US3486537A

US3486537A - Holding and releasing mechanism for spiral binder applying machines

Info

Publication number: US3486537A
Application number: US662013A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hans A Sickinger
Original assignee: Hans Sickinger Co
Current assignee: Hans Sickinger Co
Priority date: 1967-08-21
Filing date: 1967-08-21
Publication date: 1969-12-30
Anticipated expiration: 1986-12-30

Description

H. A. SI'CKINGER 3,486,537 RELEASING MECHA Dec. 30, 19 9 r NISM FOR SPIRAL CHINES DER APPLYING MA .HOL-DING AND v v BIN Filed Aug. 21, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 f v i' i fl r yal' 4 59 2;

177' aim 72 30, 1969 H. A. SICKINGER 3,486,537

HOLDING AND RELEASING MECHANISM FOR SPIRAL BINDER APPLYING MACHINES Filed Aug. 21, 1967 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

454)?! ZZZ 2770' 1969 H. A. SlCKlNE-BER j 3,486,537

HOLDING AND RELEASING MECHANISM FOR SPIRAL BINDER APPLYING .MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 21, 1967 oooooooooooooJJfibooqooonooooooooooooooooooooo United States Patent O 3,486,537 HOLDING AND RELEASING MECHANISM FOR SPIRAL BINDER APPLYING MACHINES Hans A. Sickinger, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., assignor t Hans Sickinger Company, Pontiac, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Aug. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 662,013 Int. Cl. B42b /12; B21f 3/02 US. Cl. 14092.94 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A spiral binder applying machine having two guide roller supports between which a pack of sheets is clamped, the spiral wire being guided by slots in the supports. The stationary support has a pair of hooks pivotally actuatable between upper supporting positions engageable with looseleaf holes in the pack and lower releasing positions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention relates to binding machines for paper sheets, and more particularly to machines in which a spiral wire is fed through holes in the sheets, the sheets also being provided with larger holes for alternate use in looseleaf form.

Description of the prior art SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention contemplates the use of a pair of hooks pivotally mounted on the fixed guide roller support for movement between an upper supporting position and 'a lower releasing position. In the supporting position, the hooks will pass through larger holes in the paper sheets which are provided for looseleaf use. In releasing position the hooks will permit the bound pack to drop by gravity. An operator may thus be picking up the next pack of sheets while the bound pack is being released. The hooks are actuated by a fluid operated reciprocating motor connected to a rocking bar on which the hooks are mounted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view in elevation of a binding machine incorporating the principles of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view in elevation showing the guide roller supports and one of the pivotally mounted hooks together with a portion of its actuating means;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the rear guide roller support and the hooks together with their actuating means;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of portion of the construction shown in FIGURE 3, and

FIGURE 5 is a view of a portion of one of the paper sheets showing the holes for the spiral binder and the holes for looseleaf binding.

Patented Dec. 30, 1969 ICC DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The machine is generally indicated at 21 and comprises a frame generally indicated at 22 adapted to rest on the floor. This frame has left hand and right hand upright side plates 23 and 24 between which are disposed the main machine components. These side plates are secured together by appropriate cross members such as the upper member 25, indicated in FIGURE 1. A wire guide tube 26 is secured to the upper portion of frame 21 adjacent the left hand end thereof, this tube being horizontally disposed and adapted to guide a wire 27 that is fed from a spool (not shown) to the rear of the machine. A pulley 28 is secured to plate 23 forwardly of tube 26 and aligned therewith. From pulley 28 the wire is led downwardly toward a wire coiling tool 29.

Coiling tool 29 is of conventional construction and need not be described in detail. A number of interchangeable coiling tools are provided for different spiral diameters, and the coiling tool is removably mounted on a coiling tool body 31 by a knurled nut 32. The coiling tool has a mandrel surrounded by a slotted member, the wire entering the slotted member at the left hand end thereof and being coiled by the mandrel, exiting at the right hand end of the tool in the form of a spiral wire which, as it turns, will pass successively through a series of holes in a package of sheets and covers 33 (FIGURE 2) which are held in alignment therewith by means described below.

Coiling tool body 31 is shown as being mounted on left hand side plate 23 by an adjustable means, including an adjustable member 34 and adjusting screw 35, so that it may be adjusted to different positions for different sizes of spiral wires.

The means for clamping pack 33 in position and guiding the spiral binder includes a forward guide roller support member 36, a rear guide roller support member 37, a forward guide roller 38 rotatably mounted within member 36 and a rear guide roller 39 rotatably mounted within member 37 (FIGURE 2).

Guide roller support members 36 and 37 are of elongated shape and have rectangular cross sections. Rear guide rollers support member 37 is mounted on a pair of brackets 40 and 41 attached to side plates 23 and 24 respectively. A bar 42 extends between these brackets behind support 37. The left hand end of member 37 is adjacent the exit of coiling tool 29 and its right hand end is adjacent plate 24.

Front guide roller support 36 is mounted for swinging movement on a rockable shaft 43 which is disposed above and parallel to coiling tool 29, and extends between side plates 23 and 24. A sleeve 44 is fixedly mounted on shaft 43 and carries a pair of arms 45 and 46 at opposite ends thereof, member 36 being secured to the outer ends of these arms. Member 36 is swingable between a retracted position shown in FIGURE 1, and a clamping position shown in FIGURE 2. In its retracted position, member 36 is spaced forwardly from member 37, giving sufficient space for the operator to place the perforated edge of a pack 33 against the forward face of member 37. When in its clamping position, member 36 will engage pack 33, clamping it against member 37. While in this position, wire 27 will be fed from tool 29 through perforations 46 in the edge of pack 33. A shoe 47 (FIGURE 2) disposed over the exit of tool 29 will prevent undue upward movement of the spiral wire as it leaves the coiling tool.

The construction of guide roller support members 36 and 37 is described in detail in the aforesaid copending application. Briefly, forward member 36 has a flat rear- Wardly facing surface 48 interrupted by vertical slots 49 communicating with a bore 51, Forward guide roller 38 is rotatably mounted within this bore and is adapted to drive the spiral wire as it passes through the perforations 46. Member 37 has a flat forwardly facing surface 53 interrupted by vertical slots 54 mating with a bore 55 which rotatably supports rear guide roller 39.

The present invention concerns the means for initially supporting and releasing pack 33. The invention is particularly useful for relatively thick packs which, in addition to the series of holes 46 for the spiral wire, has three larger holes 58 and 59 for alternate use of the pages in looseleaf books of the ring type. As seen in FIGURES 2, 3, and 4, the initial supporting and releasing means comprise a pair of hooks 61 and 62 beneath rear guide roller support 37 and extending forwardly therefrom adjacent the left and right hand ends of the support memher. The hooks are of sufiicient length to enable them to pass through holes 57 and 59 of pack 33, and the ends have curved upper surfaces 63 with the radius conforming to that of the spiral wire, so that when pack 33 hangs on these hooks, holes 46 will adjust themselves to this curvature. The hooks also extend at an angle corresponding to the pitch of the spiral wire.

The rearward portions of hooks 61 and 62 are secured to a shaft 64 which extends beneath and parallel to bar 43. The opposite ends of this shaft are rotatably supported by a pair of

brackets

65 and 66 secured to bar 43.

An arm 67 is secured to shaft 64 at the intermediate portion thereof and extends downwardly as seen in FIG- URE 2. A piston 68 is pivotally secured to the lower end of this arm by a pin 69. The pinion is carried by a trunnion 71 which is pivotally supported by a bracket 72 extending downwardly from a platform 73, which is secured to bar 43 by bolts 74. A reciprocable fluid actuated motor 75 is carried by trunnion 71 and operates piston rod 68.

The arrangement is such that when piston rod 68 is in its extended position, as shown in FIGURE 2, hooks 61 and 62 will be in their supporting position. When in this position, the upwardly facing surfaces 76 of these hooks will engage the underside of support 37. Clearance recesses will be formed in support 37 to permit the hooks to be raised to this position.

When in their supporting position, hooks 61 and 62 will be adapted to receive a stack 33, and in particular to enter the holes 57 and 59 thereof, as seen in FIGURE 2. The positions of the hooks are such that when the stack is so supported apertures 46 will be aligned so as to receive the spiral wire. Forward guide roller support 36 may then be brought to its clamping position, slots 49 being provided with clearance recesses to avoid interference with the hooks.

After the spiral wire has been fully fed and severed, forward guide roller support 36 will be brought to its raised position as shown in FIGURE 1. Piston rod 68 may then be retracted to the right from its FIGURE 2 position, rocking shaft 64 counterclockwise and thus also rocking hooks 61 and 62 counterclockwise. The hooks will then release the wire-bound stack 33 so that it may drop by gravity. The operator may thus be taking a new stack to place on the hooks while the bound stack is being released.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of the invention disclosed are well calculated fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for binding a stack of sheets of the type having a row of relatively small perforations for receiving a wire binder and at least two relatively large perforations spaced inwardly from the small perforations for use in looseleaf form, a rotary coiling tool for feeding a spiral wire through said small perforations, a fixed support, a movable support, said supports having facing surfaces, the surface on said fixed support being vertical, the movable support being movable between a retracted position and a clamping position in which said surfaces are parallel and an edge of said stack is clamped between said surfaces, means for initially retaining said stack in position to be clamped, said last mentioned means comprising a pair of hooks pivotally mounted below said stationary support and extending forwardly therefrom, the hooks having an upper retaining position spaced below the axis of said rotary coiling tool a predetermined distance such that when the relatively large perforations of an unbound stack are placed thereon the small perforations will be in line to receive the lower portions of the spiral wire, whereby the latter may be fed through the stack and the movable support retracted while the hooks are still in their upper retaining position, and means for rocking said hooks from said upper retaining position to a lower releasing position in which a bound stack may be removed from said books,

2. The combination according to claim 1, further provided with clearance recesses in said movable support for permitting the movable support to be moved to its clamping position without interference by said hooks.

3. The combination according to claim 1, said hooks being secured to a shaft, means rotatably supporting said shaft beneath said stationary support, an arm extending from said shaft, said means for rocking said hooks comprising a reciprocable fluid motor connected to said arm, and means supporting said motor adjacent said stationary support.

4. The combination according to claim 1, said hooks having upwardly facing arcuate surfaces for supporting said stack, said arcuate surfaces being so shaped as to cause said relatively small apertures in the stack to conform to the shape of a spiral wire binder passed therethrough, said hooks extending at an angle relative to said stationary support corresponding to the pitch of said spiral wire binder.

5. The combination according to claim 1, the fixed support having a rotatable guide roller therein, slots extending from the surface of said fixed support toward said guide roller, said slots receiving a spiral wire fed from said coiling tool, said means for rocking said hooks between said two positions comprising a fluid actuated reciprocable motor connected to said hooks, the hooks extending at an angle relative to said stationary support corresponding to the pitch of said spiral wire, the curvature of said hooks being such that the relatively small apertures in a stack retained thereon will conform to the curvature of said spiral wire.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,166,519 7/ 1939 Catini i 140--92.93 2,532,443 12/ 1950 Freundlich 14092.3 2,638,609 5/1953 Penner 14092.93 2,961,012 11/ 1960 Freundlich 140-923 3,251,3 5/ 1966 Freundlich -923 3,378,046 4/ 1968 Ostermeier 140-92.93

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner E. M. COMBS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 140-9293