US3514097A

US3514097A - Folding apparatus for paper and the like

Info

Publication number: US3514097A
Application number: US682335A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wally Charles Hoff
Original assignee: General Binding Corp Canada Ltd
Current assignee: General Binding Corp Canada Ltd
Priority date: 1967-11-13
Filing date: 1967-11-13
Publication date: 1970-05-26
Anticipated expiration: 1987-05-26

Description

May 26, 1970 w. c. HOFF FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PAPER AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 15, 1967 INVENTOR WALL) C. HOFF May 26, 1970 w. c. HOFF 3,514,097

FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PAPER AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 13, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet z I2 26 ll 12 FIG. 6

2 n 2 INVENTOR 4 I WALL) c. HOFF ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,514,097 FOLDING APPARATUS FOR PAPER AND THE LIKE Wally Charles Hoff, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assignor to General Binding Corporation (Canada) Limited, a

corporation of Canada Filed Nov. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 682,335 Int. Cl. B65h 45/04 US. Cl. 270-61 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This specification discloses a piece of apparatus suitable for a small or medium size ofiice for use by untrained secretarial staff for folding mail and other pieces of paper and such sheet material. The apparatus includes a recessed die into which the paper is forced by a mandrel, thereby creasing the paper along either side of the mandrel. In a second operation, these creases are flattened and the piece of folded paper is removed.

This invention relates to apparatus for folding paper such as correspondence and the like.

Apparatus of this general type, usually known as mail folders, has been under development for many years for use in the handling of bulk correspondence, usually by agencies specializing in the business of preparing and mailing correspondence for others. Obviously, in view of the very large volumes of correspondence handled by such specialized businesses, the letter folding machines developed by them have generally been developed to high degree of sophistication and capable of high speed continuous operation whereby to reduce the amount of handling of such correspondence to a minimum.

However, such sophisticated machines represent a very substantial capital investment, and are very seldom found in offices and small businesses, since the volume of correspondence handled, generally speaking, does not warrant such an expense. As a result, the great majority of business correspondence is folded entirely by hand. Hand folding of letters is undesirable from various points of view. For example, letters are often folded erratically or incorrectly and arrive at their destination looking crumpled and present a poor impression. In addition, such incorrect folding can sometimes lead to tearing of the letters when the envelopes are opened at their destination. Another disadvantage stems from the use of ballpoint pens in which the supply of ink is often excessive, and takes a considerable length of time to dry. When letters signed with such a ballpoint pen are folded by hand, the signature becomes smudged and may mark the correspondence or other material folded with the letter.

The present invention is therefore directed to providing a letter folding machine which is directed specifically to the hitherto untapped market provided by a large number of offices and small businesses where mail is daily folded by hand.

It is the objective of the invention to provide a letter folding apparatus which is small and compact and may lie on a desk without obstruction to the normal use of the desk, and which involves a minimum of moving parts and is simple to operate by secretarial personnel without any special mechanical knowledge or training.

More particularly it is an objective of the present invention to provide a letter folding machine having the foregoing advantages in which a substantial portion of the machine may be molded in one piece from plastic, thereby reducing the cost.

More particularly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a letter folding machine having the foregoing advantages in which the letter is folded in a die of predetermined dimensions, the location of the folds in the letter being adjustable by means of a stop adjacent to one side of the die thereby ensuring the provision of precisely regulated fold lines in the letter.

More particularly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a letter folding machine having the foregoing advantages which is substantially unbreakable and in which no service is required.

The foregoing and other advantages will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which is hereinafter described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings in which like reference devices refer to like parts thereof throughout the various views and diagrams and in which;

FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of a folding apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a greatly enlarged sectional illustration of a detail of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, along the line 2-2;

FIG. 3 is top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. l illustrating the first step of the operation thereof;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational View of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 at a second stage in the operation;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view, similar to that of FIG. 3, showing the third and final stage of the operation;

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of a further embodiment of the apparatus, and,

FIG. 7 is a perspective illustration of a detail of the apparatus showing a further embodiment.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 5, it will be seen that this preferred embodiment of the mail folder according to the invention comprises a one-piece unitary base indicated generally as 10 formed of moulded plastic, and having a recessed, folding die 11 formed therein of predetermined width, being defined by tapering side walls 12, which diverge towards the bottom of die 11 thereby providing a mouth or opening thereof of reduced size. A moveable register bar 13 is located on one side of base 10 being adjustably secured, as by wing nuts 14 in variable locations, base 10 being slotted as at 15 for the purpose. A fixed register member 16 is moulded on base '10 along another side thereof normal to register bar 13.

A letter folding mandrel plate 17 is formed of stainless steel or heavily plated steel to permit easy sliding of paper thereon and is dimensioned to fit within die 11 at its smallest point, namely its upper portion. Mandrel plate 17 is hingedly mounted on base 10 by means of rod 18 passing through struck out portions 19 of plate 17 and seated at each end in recesses in register member 16.

Mandrel plate 17 incorporates an integral handle 20 extending to one side of base 10 upwardly at an angle of about 45, for raising plate 17. A spring 21 having free ends 22 engaging base 10 and a pressure arm 23 overlying plate 17 provides downward spring pressure on plate 17 to force the same into die 11.

In order to flatten the creases formed in a letter or piece of paper, indicated as 1, a pair of creasing clips 24 are attached at the end of die 11, on base 10 remote from register member 16. Clips 24 are biased downwardly to press against the lower surface of die 11, and incorporate upwardly angled deflector guides 25 to guide the loosely creased paper 1 into clips 24. U-shaped finger and

thumb openings

26 and 27 are cut out of base 10 and plate 17 in registration with one another to permit the folded letter or piece of paper 1 to be grasped with finger and thumb and be drawn endwise off mandrel plate 17 between clips 24.

In operation, mandrel plate 17 is raised by pressing handle downwardly and slipping the piece of paper 1 between plate 17 and base 10, being sure that two side edges of paper I register, one with fixed register member 16 and the other with moveable register bar 13. It will be appreciated that moveable register bar 13 has been adjusted by trial and error so as to locate the piece of paper 1 in the correct position in which it is desired to form the final folds. Handle 20 is then released and pressure on 23 of spring 21 forces mandrel plate 17 downwardly into die 11. Such downward pressure pinches paper 1 into loose creases along either side of plate 17, and the tapering side walls 12 ofv die 11 cause paper 1 to fold inwardly over mandrel 17. In order to increase this inward folding effect, it is to be noted that die 11 is somewhat deeper than the thickness of mandrel 17, preferably being of a depth approximately twice such thickness. The two upstanding ends of paper 1 are then folded inwardly over mandrel 17 by hand and almost simultaneously the finger and thumb can take hold of the three layers of paper at the free end of mandrel 17 and draw the same endwise off mandrel 17 between clips 24. Deflector guides 25 of clips 24 will cause the loosely folded portions of paper 1 to enter clips 24 without dis torting the same, and clips 24 will flatten the creases formed in paper 1. The folded piece of mail can then be inserted into an envelope as a subsequent operation.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, illustrated in FIG. 6, provision may be made for automatic or semi-automatic operation. Thus the intermediate step, described above, manually infolding the two free ends of paper 1 over mandrel 17 may in fact be performed by means such as a mobile roller 30, arranged on yoke 31 which is internally threaded and driven by an archimedes screw 32 mounted for rotation between plates 33. An electric motor 34 will rotate screw 32 and cause yoke 31 to travel to and fro across base 10. In such to and fro movement, roller will catch first one portion and then the other of paper 1 and flatten the same against mandrel 17. Any suitable switch means 35 can be provided for operating motor 34 when, mandrel 17 is seated in die 11. Obviously, this arrangement may be improved in many ways, this being merely illustrative of a crude form of automatic means for performing this operation.

The operation of roller 30 could thus be effected more quickly by a continuous belt and a motor driving the same through a clutch and reversing mechanism.

According to a further embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, clips 24 for flattening the creases may be replaced by rollers 37 mounted for rotation on brackets 38 formed integrally with spring arms 39 curved to provide a spring biasing action pressing rollers 37 firmly downwardly onto the bottom of die 11. Guide members 40 are formed integrally with spring arms for guiding paper 1 into rollers 37.

The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention is given here by way of example only. It is not intended that the invention shall be deemed limited to any of the specific features described, but comprehends all such variations thereof as come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for folding sheets of paper and the like said apparatus comprising;

a flat planar base member;

a recessed paper folding die formed as a depression of predetermined width defined by two spaced side walls in said base member below the plane of said base member, said width corresponding to the width of the sheet when folded and being open at one end for endwise removal of said folded sheet;

register means on at least two sides of said base mem- 4. her for locating a sheet of paper or the like in predetermined relation to said die; mandrel means of generally flat planar construction swingably mounted at one end on one side of said base member for movement into and out of said die, the other end being free to permit removal of a folded sheet of paper therefrom for forcing a portion of a sheet of paper into said die and creasing the same around said mandrel means, said mandrel being dimensioned to fit loosely within said die extending from side to side thereof between said side walls below the plane of said bases member, and,

means mounted on and contacting said base member for flattening said creases in said paper.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said recessed die is defined by angled side walls diverging towards the interior of said die.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said register members at least is moveable and including adjustable fastening means for said moveable register member for fastening the same in adjustable locations with respect to said base.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including handle means integral with said mandrel, for movement of said mandrel away from said die and spring means normally urging said mandrel into said die.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said flattening means comprises spring loaded pressure means at said open end of said die on either side thereof, and guide means associated therewith for guiding said creased paper into said pressure means, as said paper is removed from said die through said open end thereof.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including hinge means for swingably mounting said mandrel on one side of said base, at one end of said die, for swinging movement into and out of said die, handle means integral with said mandrel for causing swinging out of said die, and spring means associated with said mandrel normally urging the same into said die, and spring loaded pressure means at the other end of said die on either side thereof, and guide means associated with said pressure means for guiding said creased paper into said pressure means as the same is Withdrawn from said die.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mandrel is of a predetermined thickness, and said die is recessed in said base to a depth of about twice said mandrel thickness.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including roller means movably mounted on said base member to move from side to side of said base member over said mandrel when the same is in position in said die to flatten said paper against said mandrel, and drive means including an electric motor for driving said roller means to move to and fro.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,678,917 7/1928 Roush 270-61 1,806,125 5/1931 Spohn 270-61 1,809,000 6/1931 Stealy 270- 2,918,276 12/1959 Weston 2706l 3,391,923 7/1968 Kohlmeyer 270-84 FOREIGN PATENTS 79,577 6/1919 Austria. 87,292 5/1966 France.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 270-86