US3355167A - Leveling platform with lift elements and dividers - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 28, 1967 D, REEVES 3,355,167

LEVELING PLATFORM WITH LIFT ELEMENTS AND DIVIDERS Filed Oct. 22, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Hudson 0. Reeves INVENTOR.

Nov. 28, 1967 H. D. REEVES 3,355,167

LEVELING PLATFORM WI TH LIFT ELEMENTS AND DIVIDERS Filed Oct. 22, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.5

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H8 Hudson 0. Reeves v INVENTOR. 44 Y United States Patent Ofiice 3,355,167 :LEWELING iRLATFORM WITH LIFT ELEMENTS AND DIVIDERS Hudson D. Reeves, Oxnard, Calif. (127 Vernon Way, Santa Paula, Calif. 93060) :Filed'Oct. 22, 1965,8813 No. 500,812 11 Claims. (Cl. 271-61) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention generally relates to a leveling ,platform for sheet material such as a stack of paper sheets or the like and which includes means for elevating .theistack of sheet material at the corners thereof and-this application discloses an invention that is an improvement on my .prior .copending applications Ser. No. 323,282,,filed Nov. 13, 1963, for Wedge-Type Stack Leveling Platform for Sheet Material, now Pat. No. 3,239,218,.issued Mar. 8, 1966, and Ser. No. 323,403, .filed ,Nov. 13, 1963 for Leveling Platform for Sheet Material now Pat. No. 3,239,219, issued March8, 1966.

In the operation of automatic printing presses, the sheets of paper are fed from a stack of sheets and one of the. problems encountered is a condition in which the corners of these .stacks drop badly or at a lower elevation than the central part of the sheets. This dropping of the corners is caused from the ink being applied to the sheet in different places on the sheet. The heavier the filmofink being applied, the greater the increased thickness of the ,paper in that spot. Thus, in a stack of .sheets, the center of the stack may be considered solid whereas the ink film rarely extends to the corners of the sheets and there is nothing supporting the corners of the sheets and thus, the edges drop. The sheets are usually .stacked in a stack of approximately three thousand sheets or more and in this type of stack, it sometimes occurs that the corners drop as much as an inch and one-half. Accordingly, it is an object of thepresent invention to provide a leveling platform having lift elements orientated at the'corners of the stack so that the corners of the stack which normally drop may be elevated so that the upper sheets of the stack are maintained in planar condition to facilitate automatic feeding of the sheets from the stack.

In'other instances, a heavy solid or halftone printing might appear not only in the center of the sheet but could also be printed on the outer portion, or edge of thesheet. In this case, the center would be lower than the edges. Inasmuch as the sheets areseparated by air before being picked up by the sucker feet and forwarded into the feeder, one would now employ the pile levelers in the center to bring it up level with the rest of the pile sothe blowers could now separate the sheets bringing'them into a position for the forwarding suckers to pick up the top sheet and forward it into the feeder.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a-leveling platform having a lift element at each corner thereof in which the liftelements orientated inasingle 3,355,367 Patented Nov. 28, 1967 longitudinal casing are actuated by concentric screwthreaded elements having actuating knobs attached to one end of each screw-threaded element and orientated in adjacent relationship to facilitate adjustment of the lift elements or elevators.

Another problem encountered in the use of ,a platform for supporting a stack of sheets is the fact that different size sheets are sometimes supported on the same platform and if the lifting elements are incorporated therein, it sometimes occurs that the lift elements are not orientated at the optimum position in relation to the stack of sheets. Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention to provide a-leveling platform including a divider which includes a plurality of components whichcooperate to form a supporting platform but which are connected with pins which allow a substantially accordion action of contracting and expandingthus enabling the size of the platform-to expand :or reduce in width so that it will be correlated to the width ofthe stack of sheets.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a leveling platform having two or more lift element assemblies associated therewith together with a divider that may be expanded and contracted with sections thereof being removable and capable of being replaced by a lift element assembly thereby enabling the areas of the stack of sheets engaged by a lift element to bevaried so that the stack of sheets can be elevated at a plurality of points along the longitudinal edges thereof if necessary. Also, additional divider elements maybe attached so that the over-all widthofthe platform-defined by the divider elements may be varied thus enabling a relatively wide size range of sheet stacks to be supported on the leveling platform of this invention.

Still another important object of the present invention is-to provide a leveling platform in accordance with the ,recedin ob'ects which is com act in construction 1on D lasting and dependable, simpleto install, operate and adjust and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to likeparts througout, and in which:

FIGURE lisa perspective view of the leveling platform illustrating the manner in which the dividers which constitute part of the platform are interconnected for lateral expansion and contraction;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse, sectional viewtaken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 illustrating further structural detailsof the leveling platform;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded groupperspective view of one of the dividers illustrating the manner in whichthe dividers are connected toadjacent dividers or .lift element assemblies for enabling the lateral dimensions of the leveling platform-to be varied;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of one of the lift element assemblies forming a part of the leveling platform;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 55 of FIGURE 4 illustrating the structure of the operating end of the lift element assembly;

FIGURE 6 is a detailed longitudinal sectional view taken substantially u-pona plane passing along-section line-66 of FIGURE 4 illustrating-the structural details of the other lift element in the lift element assembly illustrating thev structure thereof;

FIGURE 7 is a transverse, sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 77 of FIGURE 5 illustrating further structural details of the invention; and

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a mounting screw for the lift elements.

Referring now specifically to the drawings and FIG- URE 1 in particular, the leveling platform of the present invention is generally designated by the numeral 10 and includes a plurality of dividers 12 which are interconnected in such a manner to enable lateral expansion and contraction thereof. The leveling platform 10 also includes a pair of or more than two leveling units or lift element assemblies 14 which are illustrated as being orientated at the two edges of the leveling platform 10 but it is pointed out that any of the individual sections of the dividers may be removed and a lift element assembly substituted therefor.

As illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3, each of the dividers 12 includes an inverted U-shaped or channelshaped divider section 16 including depending legs 18 which are generally parallel to each other and a transversely extending bight portion 20. The plurality of bight portions 20 all he in substantially the same horizontal plane to provide a supporting surface for a stack of sheets.

Each end of each depending leg 18 is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures 22 which are aligned with apertures on the corresponding depending leg for receiving connector pins or rods 24 therethrough. The ends of the pins or rods 24 are apertured and receive cotter pins 26 or equivalent fasteners. This construction enables detachable assembly of the divider sections 16 and removal of any of the divider sections 16 when desired by removing the cotter pins 26 in an obvious manner.

Where the divider section 16 is connected to a lift element assembly 14, a different kind of pin 28 is employed which has one end thereof threaded as at 30 and the other end provided with a cotter pin 32. The end of the pin 28 having the cotter pin 32 therein is received in one of the apertures 22 while the threaded end 30 of the pin 28 is screw-threadedly engaged in an internally threaded aperture 34 formed in each wall of the lift element assembly 14 in a manner described hereinafter. Thus, the lift element assemblies 14 may be mounted at the outer edges of the leveling platform 10 as illustrated in FIGURE 1 or may be mounted anywhere intermediate the edges of the leveling platform 10. Further, the dividers 12 may vary in length in relation to the lift element assembly 14 with the variation in length being accommodated by the plurality of apertures 22. The pins 24 and 28 freely slidably extend through the apertures 22 to enable the divider section 16 to move from a position completely laterally expanded as illustrated in FIG- URE 2 to a position where the outer surfaces of the legs 18 abuttingly engage each other thereby enabling the lateral dimension of the leveling platform 10 to be materially changed by a substantially accordion action by exerting lateral pressure either inwardly or outwardly on the lift element assemblies 14.

Referring now specifically to FIGURES 4-8, each lift element assembly 14 includes an elongated hollow housing or casing having a continuous bottom 42 and continuous walls 44 and 46 in perpendicular relation to the bottom 42 and in generally parallel relation to each other. The center part of the housing 40 is provided with a closure top wall 48 having depending legs 50 lying alongside the legs 44 and being secured thereto as by fasteners 52 or the like thus rigidifying the casing and forming a top surface for the housing or casing 46.

At the actuating end of the casing 40, there is provided a transverse end wall 54 having an aperture 56 extending therthrough. Spaced inwardly from the opposite end of the casing 40 and forming a partial end closure for the top wall 48 is a transverse partition or end plate 58 having an aperture 60 extending therethrough which is circumferentially spaced from an elongated inner actuating rod 62 which also extends through the aperture 56 and is concentrically received within an outer actuating rod 64 which is in the form of an externally threaded tubular rod having an elongated threaded area 66. The end of the exterior concentric threaded rod 64 terminates inwardly of the actuating end of the rod 66 and is provided with a knurled knob 68 secured to the external rod 64 by a setscrew '70 or the like. The actuating end of the rod 60 is also provided with an operating knob 72 which is knurled for ease of rotation with the knob '72 being secured to the rod 60 by'a setscrew 74. Fixed to the external rod 64 is a collar 76 which engages the end plate 54 in opposition to the knob 68 for precluding longitudinal movement of the external threaded rod or shaft 64 with the collar 76 being retained in position by a setscrew 78 or the like. The inner rod 64 is provided with a collar 80 secured thereto by a setscrew 82 and engaging the outer surface of the transverse end wall or partition wall 58 as illustrated in FIGURE 6 which enables rotation of the rod 60 but precludes axial movement thereof. Thus, with the aforedescribed structure, both of the rods 60 and 64 may be rotated by rotating their respective knobs and due to the engagement between the knobs themselves and between knob 68 and the wall 54 and engagement of collar 56 with wall 54 and collar 80 with wall 58, longitudinal or axial move ment of the rods 60 and 64 is precluded while rotation thereof is permitted.

The portion of the rod 60 which extends beyond the collar 80 is externally threaded as at 84 and extends through and is in threaded engagement with a transversely extending wedging or camming member 86 that is in the form of an axle and has peripheral sleeves 88 at each end thereof for rolling engagement with the top surface of the bottom member 42 and rolling or sliding engagement with the bottom inclined edges 90 of a pair of depending legs 92 on a U-shaped lift element or elevator generally designated by numeral 94 and including a generally planar bight portion 96 which will generally be substantially flush with the top edge of the lift element assembly 14 when in the lowermost position. The end of the lift element or elevator 94 adjacent the partition wall 58 is pivotally connected to the casing 40 by a connecting pin or bolt 98 having one end thereof threaded as at 100 and the other end thereof slotted as at 102 for receiving an implement for rotating the same such as a screwdriver blade or the like. Thus, the pivot pin 98 may be removable for enabling repair or replacement of the component parts of the device.

The other end of the casing 40 is provided with a similar lift element or elevator 104 having a top wall or bight portion 106 and depending legs 108 which have an inclined lower edge 110. The lift element 104 is pivoted between the walls 44 and 46 by a pivot pin 112 which is the same as the pivot pin 98 but the pivot pin 112 is selectively threaded into one of a plurality of sets of apertures 114 which are transversely aligned and one of the apertures 114 such as the aperture on the far wall 44 is threaded for receiving the threaded end of the pin 112. A Wedging or camming element 116 engages the inclined edges of the lift element 104 and the ends of the wedging element 116 have sleeves rotatable thereon as at 118 for rolling or sliding engagement with the upper surface of the bottom 42 and the inclined surface 110. This construction enables the longitudinal spacing between the elevators 94 and 104 to be varied thus enabling the effective length of the lift element assembly or leveling assembly 14 to be varied. The wedging member 116 may be considered in the form of a roller and is longitudinally adjustable by merely rotating the knob 68. When the actuating wedging device 116 is in its retracted position,

ployed including various linkages, levers, cams, wedges or the like which will cause movement of the elevators about their pivotal point of connection from a position generally horizontally disposed to an upwardly inclined position for elevating the particular area of the stack of papers with which the li'ft'element 'or elevator is engaged thus leveling the stack of :sheets of paperor the like.

It will be appreciated that the levelingplatform 10 of the presentinventionrests on a supporting surface which usually is in the form of a substantially solid" supporting plate normally provided'for supporting the stack of sheets. Also, the"end plate *6as'well as the partition plate 58 and the center top plate 48 may besecured in place by any type fastener suchas'rivets, or the like which are designated by numeral 52. Also, the manner of pivotal movement of the elevators or lift elements 94 and 104 may be reversed by removing the pins 98 and 112 and inserting them through corresponding aligned apertures in the opposite ends of the lift elements 94 and 104. Thus, the lift elements may be pivoted from either end thereof and may be orientated in a reverse manner as compared with the illustration of FIGURES 4-8.

By using the reverse operation of the elevators or lift elements 94 and 104, the lift elements can quickly be orientated to the desired position in relation to a stack of sheets and compensate for different size sheets. Further, the longitudinal adjustment of the lift element or elevator 104 enables the lift element assembly 14 to be used for various sizes of stacks of sheets. While the lift element assembly 14 has been illustrated in combination with the divider assembly, it is pointed out that a third lift element assembly may be incorporated in the middle of the divider assembly or any number of lift element assemblies may be utilized as deemed necessary for proper control of the stack of sheets. The leveling platform is supported directly on the pile board which normally receives the stack of sheets and eliminates the use of separate wedges which are currently employed in conjunction with the stack of sheets in an effort to try to level the stack of sheets. Such independent wedges are objectionable inasmuch as they become loose and detached from the sheet and sometimes interfere with normal operation of the other mechanism of the automatic press.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A leveling unit for a stack of sheet material comprising an elongated body for positioning under a stack of sheet material, a pair of spaced elevators mounted on said body for vertical movement between a retracted position and an extended position, actuating means connected to each of said elevators and operable to move the latter between said retracted and extended positions, said actuating means extending outwardly from said body at the same end thereof and operable independently of each other and including a pair of handle means orientated in axial alignment with each other.

2. The leveling unit as defined in claim 1 wherein said actuating means includes a pair of concentric members with the outer member including a hollow rod having a portion of the external surface thereof threaded and the inner member comprising a rod longer than the hollow rod and having a portion thereof beyond the hollow rod externally threaded, said handle means includes an operating knob connected to each of said hollow rod and said inner rod and "disposed 'in adjacent .relation with ithe knobs having the same rotational axis forfacilitating controlthereof.

3. The leveling unit as .defined in claim 2 wherein said actuating means includes a transverse roller assembly for each elevator, said externally threaded "hollow rod being threadedly engaged with the roller assembly adjjacent the operating knobs "and the externally threaded portion of the inner rod being 'threadedly engaged with the rollerassembly "for the elevator remotefrom'the op- .erating knobs, each elevator including an inclinedsurfacefor engagement by the roller assembly whereby'longitudinal movement of the roller assembly will cause vertical movement of theelevatorsbetween'their extended and retracted positions,.said body including asupporting surface engaging'the roller .assembly'in opposition to the engagement'between'theelevators and. the roller as- :seniblies thereby forming a'support therefor and relieving the threaded members ofthefforces exerted onthe elevatorsby said rollerassemblies.

4. The leveling unit as defined in claim 3 wherein each of said elevators is pivotally attached to said body, a removable pivot pin supporting each of the elevators from said body and being removable for pivotally supporting the elevators from the body at either end of the elevators to enable variation in the characteristic of movement of the elevators between their extended and retracted positions.

5. A divider assembly for supporting a stack of sheets between leveling units comprising a plurality of supporting elements having a substantially constant vertical dimension, means connecting the supporting elements together in side-by-side relation and permitting lateral adjustment of the supporting elements in relation to each other whereby the effective lateral dimension of a group of supporting elements may be varied between a laterally extended position and a laterally retracted position, each of said supporting elements being in the form of an inverted U-shaped channel, said means interconnecting the supporting elements including a plurality of pins extending through facing flanges of adjacent pairs of channels and having a longitudinal dimension considerably greater than the aggregate width of the facing flanges of an adjacent pair of channels and loosely received in apertures in the flanges thereby enabling movement of adjacent channels in relation to each other, said pins including means on the ends thereof for limiting the movement of the channels in relation to each other.

6. The divider assembly defined in claim 5 wherein the means on the ends of the pins are removable to enable placement of additional supporting elements or removal of supporting elements thereby enabling the minimum and maximum lateral dimension of the divider assembly to be varied.

7. The divider assembly as defined in claim 6 wherein the pins connected to the outermost flange of the outermost supporting element have one end thereof screw threaded for positive engagement with a leveling unit thereby providing for assembly of the leveling unit and divider assembly.

8. A leveling platform comprising at least a pair of stack leveling units and a divider assembly disposed between the leveling units for supporting an intermediate portion of the stack, each leveling unit including an elongated body, said divider assembly including a plurality of supporting elements having a vertical dimension generally equal to the vertical dimension of the body for providing support for the stack, means interconnecting the supporting elements with each other and connecting the leveling units to the outermost supporting element for lateral adjustment of the supporting elements in relation to each other thereby enabling the distance between the leveling units to be varied for accommodating stacks of different dimension, each leveling unit including a pair of elevators movably mounted thereon for movement between a vertically extended and vertically retracted position, actuating means for said elevators for individually moving the elevators between their extended and retracted positions for enabling selected portions of the stack to be elevated for leveling the stack.

9. The combination as defined in claim 8 wherein each supporting element is substantially an inverted U-shaped channel member, said means interconnecting the channel members including rods loosely extending through the flanges thereof and having a dimension greater than the aggregate width of two flanges thus enabling the channel members to move laterally toward and away from each other within the limits of the dimensions of the pins, means on the ends of each pin for retaining the channel members thereon.

10. The combination as defined in claim 9 wherein the actuating means for said elevators includes concentric threaded rod elements with the outer rod being hollow for receiving the inner rod, said rods extending through one end of the body and including adjacent but longitudinally spaced operating knobs rotatable about a single axis in alignment with the rotational axis of the rods for enabling individual control of the elevators.

11. The combination as defined in claim 10 wherein each of said elevators includes a pivotal plate member having depending flanges thereon, and means selectively pivoting one end of each elevator to the body thereby enabling a selected end of said elevator to be swung upwardly in a vertical direction upon operation of the actuating means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 25,825 7/1965 Springer 27161 1,412,812 4/1922 White 27161 3,239,218 3/1966 Reeves 2716l 3,239,219 3/1966 Reeves 27161 ALLEN N. KNOWLES, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A LEVELING UNIT FOR A STACK OF SHEET MATERIAL COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BODY FOR POSITIONING UNDER A STACK OF SHEET MATERIAL, A PAIR OF SPACED ELEVATORS MOUNTED ON SAID BODY FOR VERTICAL MOVEMENT BETWEEN A RETRACTED POSITION AND AN EXTENDED POSITION, ACTUATING MEANS CONNECTED TO EACH OF SAID ELEVATORS AND OPERABLE TO MOVE THE LATTER BETWEEN SAID RETRACTED AND EXTENDED POSITIONS, SAID ACTUATING MEANS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID BODY AT THE SAME END THEREOF AND OPERABLE INDEPENDENTLY OF EACH OTHER AND INCLUDING A PAIR OF HANDLE MEANS ORIENTATED IN AXIAL ALIGNMENT WITH EACH OTHER.

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