US3565004A

US3565004A - Duplicating machines with automatic stencil destroyer

Info

Publication number: US3565004A
Application number: US825170A
Authority: US
Inventors: Bevan Graham Horstmann
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1969-05-16
Filing date: 1969-05-16
Publication date: 1971-02-23
Anticipated expiration: 1988-02-23

Abstract

A duplicating machine having a stencil carrier movable to repeatedly carry a stencil into and out of a printing position and a counter operatively coupled to the carrier, has a stencil spoiler movable into an operative position to engage and spoil a stencil on the carrier, and a retainer controllable by the counter to hold the spoiler inoperative until the counter responds to the completion of a predetermined number of operative movements by the stencil carrier.

Description

United States Patent Inventor Bevan Graham l'lorstmann Newbridge Works, Bath, Somerset, England Appl. No. 825,170

Filed May 16, 1969 Patented Feb. 23, 1971 DUPLICATING MACHINES WITH AUTOMATIC STENCIL DESTROYER [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,448,994 3/1923 Dauley et al 101/24 1,571,470 2/1926 Gabe] 101/24 2,617,593 11/1952 Avdier et a1. 101/322X 3,375,783 4/1968 Grimm etal..... 101/132 3,430,558 3/1969 Cassano 101/132 Primary Examiner-William B. Penn Assistant Examiner-EM. Coven Attorneys-Emory L. Groff and Emory L. Groff, Jr.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[1.5. CI. 101/132, 101/24, lOl/322 Int. Cl B411 ll/08, B441) 5/00 Field ofSeareh 101/132, 24, 23, 322

PATENTEU FEB23 19m SHEEI 1 [1F 2 7 WW 4 mm Z w M16. W 6 W B DUPLIGATING MACHINES WITH AUTOMATIC STENCIL DESTROYER This invention concerns duplicating machines of the kind comprising a stencil-carrier for moving an inked stencil repeatedly to a printing position to engage sheets of paper presented one at a time at that position and thereby to print on each sheet in turn the legend initially formed on the stencil.

An object of the invention is to provide such a machine which will automatically spoil a stencil after a predetermined number of copies have been taken from it.

The invention has been developed for signing checks that is for duplicating on checks a signature which has first been formed on the stencil. Known machines for reproducing a signature on checks and similar documents have employed printing blocks of metal, rubber or other substantially permanent material, thereby presenting security risks calling for the use of locking devices and other complicated means to prevent unauthorized use of the blocks. By a machine in accordance with the invention the security risk can be substantially reduced. Also the improved machine can be used with advantage for duplicating any confidential or classified matter.

In accordance with the invention a duplicating machine having a movable stencil-carrier for repeatedly moving a stencil in a predetermined path into and out of a printing position, means for feeding paper sheets singly in succession to the printing position and a counter operatively coupled to the carrier to count successive copies of movement of the carrier and thereby of the stencil into and out of the printing position, also has a stencil spoiler mounted adjacent to the path of the stencil and movable into and out of that path, a releasable retainer for holding the spoiler out of said path and means coupled to the counter and operable to release the retainer to move the spoiler into that path by the counter registering a predetermined number of cycles of movement of the carrier.

In its preferred form the invention is applied in a rotary duplicating machine having a rotatable drum with means for releasably holding a stencil on its periphery, reciprocable sheet feeding means operatively coupled to the drum for presenting by each rotation of the drum a single sheet to a printing position for engagement by a stencil carried through that position by the drum, and a counter operatively coupled to the drum to count the rotations thereof, the machine also having, in accordance with the invention, a stencil spoiler mounted adjacent to the periphery of the drum and movable into and out of the path of the stencil, a retainer for holding the spoiler out of said path and an operative coupling between the counter and the retainer to hold the spoiler out of said path and, by the counter responding to a predetermined rotation of the drum, to actuate the retainer to move the spoiler into said path.

Further details of the invention will be given in the following description, by way of example, of an embodiment in a rotary duplicating machine which is illustrated in the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, wherein:

FIG. I is a view, partly in section, of one side of the machine; and

FIG. 2 is a view, also partly in section, of the other side of the machine.

On a table base 1 is mounted a support wall 2 on one side of which, as shown in FIG. I, is mounted a rotatable drum 3, with its axis horizontal, under a cover 4 which is attached by a hinge 5 about which it can be turned between the closed position shown, where it rests on a stop 6, and an open position to give access to the drum. Below the drum 3 is mounted a pressure roller 7.

The drum 3 is of known form, being adapted to have a stencil sheet releasably secured to its periphery and having a handle or motor drive coupled to its shaft 8 (FIG 2) for turning it in the direction of the arrows to draw a check or other sheet of paper between the drum 3 and pressure roller 7 at the printing position as the stencil is carried by the drum through that position. In the structure of the drum an inking device provides for printing on each sheet of a duplicate of a signature or other legend initially formed on the stencil. A filler cap for the drum in indicated at 64.

In a lower position on the feed side of the drum there is a holder for a stack of sheets and, above the holder, reciprocable means for feeding the sheets singly from the top of the stack to the nip between the drum 3 and pressure roller 7. The stack holder and sheet feeder can be of any known form in which the feeder is operatively coupled to the drum and so synchronized with it that the printed legend will appear at substantially the same position on each sheet. In the illustrated arrangement, the stack holder is a flat table 10 mounted above a flat base 9 and urged upwardly by a spring 11, the table 10 and base 9 being coupled by a link mechanism 12 which maintains the table 10 parallel to and in register with the base 9. When the table 10 is fully depressed, the chamfered inner end 13 of a horizontal latching spindle 14, mounted in guides 15 under one end of the table 10 and biased inwards by a spring 16, is displaced by and snaps under an inclined catch 17 on the base 9. In front of the table 10 a slightly upwardly inclined flat inlet guide 18 leads to the printing position from the top of a vertical wall 19 which also serves to locate one end of the pack. At the top of a stem 20 on one face of the wall 19 a thin locating tongue 21 projects away from and in alignment with the inlet guide 18.

To load the machine, the table 10 is depressed until the catch 17 is engaged by the latch 13 and then a stack of the blank sheets is placed upon the depressed table 10. The latch 13 is now disengaged by pulling the knob 22, so that the spring 11 raises the table 10 until the forward end of the top of the stack is held against the underside of the tongue 21, and in a generally central position the stack is also pressed upwards against a transverse backing roller 23.

The backing roller 23 is freely rotatable, clockwise is FIG. 1, in the sense to roll on the top sheet first fed towards and thereafter drawn away by the drum 3. The backing roller 23 has an array of ratchet teeth 24 engaged by a pivoted pawl 25 which is biased into engagement with the ratchet teeth 24 by a spring 26 which provides that the roller 23 can be turned slightly in opposition to its direction of free rotation.

Between the backing roller 23 and the inlet guide 18 the top of the stack will be engaged by a transverse feed blade 26a which in the ready-to-feed position (FIG. 1) is substantially vertical with a lower horizontal flat foot 27 resting on the top of the stack. The blade is pivotal intermediately of the foot 27 and the top of the blade on a transverse bar 28. In its ready-tofeed position the blade 26a is located vertically by being engaged, on its side remote from the drum 3, above the bar 28 by an adjustable fixed stop 29 and below the bar 28 by an adjustable movable stop 30. The blade 26a and movable stop 30 are mounted on a feed carriage 31 which is reciprocable horizontally towards and away from the printing position and is located by

fixed guide pins

32, 32 slidable in and relatively to horizontal slots 33 in the carriage 31. A tension spring 34 retracts the carriage 31 away from the printing position into the ready-to-feed position shown. As shown in FIG. 2, a disc 35 fast on the drum shaft 8 carries near its periphery a roller 36 which, as the drum 3 is turned, can engage a projection 37 on the carriage 31 in the sense to draw the carriage towards the printing position. The relative arrangement of the projection 37 and the roller 36 is such that after the drum 3 has turned about 60 the roller will disengage the projection and allow the carriage 31 to be retracted by the spring 34.

After the machine is loaded and before printing is started the top sheet of a stack is slightly displaced away from the printing position to release its leading edge from under the locating tongue 21. As the drum 3 is then turned the blade 26a feeds the top sheet forward, over the tongue 21 and guide 18 into the nip between the drum 3 and pressure roller 7, whereupon the continued movement of the sheet is effected by the drum 3 as it effects the printing operation and then discharges the printed sheet over a forward guide 38 to an appropriate receptacle 39.

On the carriage 31 being retracted, the foot 27 of the blade 26a is frictionally in engagement with the top sheet which is still being drawn forward by the drum 3; this engagement tilts the blade 26a on its bar 28 towards the drum 3 at its foot and away from the drum 3 at its upper end, Before the carriage 31 is fully retracted, the top sheet will become drawn out of engagement with the blade 26a which then rests on the next sheet; at the end of the retraction movement the blade 26a is forcibly turned into the vertical position by engaging the fixed stop 29, and in this final turning movement the foot 27 draw the now topmost sheet rearwardly from under the tongue 21 to the slight extent controlled by the spring biased pawl and ratchet hold 24, 25, 26 on the backing roller 23, so that the device is automatically set for the next printing operation.

In accordance with the invention, a spindle 40 mounted for turning in the main support 2 carries an arm 41 having on one end a stencil spoiler 42 which is shown as a toothed wheel or cylinder but can be any form of spiked bar, drum or other device which when brought into engagement with the stencil will tear or otherwise spoil it. The arrangement of spindle 40, arm 41 and spoiler 42 is such that it can be turned to bring the spoiler 42 into or out of engagement with the stencil, and an extension 43 of the arm 4] enables the device to be hand manipulated, if required. As shown in FIG. 2, the spindle 40 also carries a second arm 44 engaged by a tension spring 45 in the sense to turn the spindle 40 to move the spoiler 42 into the path of the stencil on the drum 3. A projection 46 on the second arm 44 engages in a slotted link 47 pivotally coupled to the armature 48 of a solenoid 49 which, when electrically energized, through leads 50, retracts the armature 48 and turns the arm 44 against the force of the spring 45 to move the spoiler 42 away from the periphery of the drum 3 and to hold it in this position. The main support also carries a counter 51, conveniently having a visible register 52, which can be set to a predetermined FIG. by hand controls 53, 53. Within the counter 51 is a microswitch, not shown, which is so controlled by the mechanism of the counter 51 that at zero count the switch is open, but at any other count the switch is closed. The microswitch controls the current flow from a main cable 54, and a terminal block 55 through

leads

56, 57, 58 and 50 to the solenoid 49 and a red warning lamp 59 in parallel with the solenoid, so that in any condition of counter 51 other than zero the warning lamp 59 is lit and the solenoid 49 is energized to retract the spoiler 42 from the drum 3.

Adjacent the disc 35 on the drum shaft 8 is mounted a pulsing switch 60 having an actuating projection 61 extending into the path of the aforementioned roller 36, so that towards the end of each operative rotation of the drum 3 the pulsing switch 60 will be actuated to emit a pulse. Within the counter 51 a pulse receiver (not shown) is responsive to a pulse received over leads 62 from the pulsing switch 60 to reduce the preset registration of the counter by one unit.

Thus after the counter 51 has been set to the required number of prints to be made from a stencil and thereby the spoiler 42 is retracted and held away from the drum 3 by the energized solenoid, the registered number will be reduced a unit at a time as the successive printing operations are effected, until when the preset number of operations have been made the counter will have returned to zero to extinguish the warning light 59 and at the same time release the solenoid 49 to permit the spoiler 42 to be moved by its spring 45 into its operative position to spoil the stencil, so that at least no further acceptable prints can be made from the stencil.

Above the solenoid 49 (FIG. 2) there is indicated a rearcover attachment spigot 63.

lclaim:

l. A duplicating machine comprising a cyclically movable stencil carrier repeatedly carrying a stencil in a predetermined path into and out of a printing position and a counter operatively coupled to the carrier to count successive cycles of movement of the carrier, wherein a stencil spoiler is carried by a reciprocable mounting member adjacent to the carrier and.

the mountin member is recip rocab le between an operative position in w 1ch the spoiler will be in the path of the stencil and an inoperative position in which the spoiler will be out of said path of the stencil, a two-state retainer coupled to said mounting member in one state holding the mounting member in said inoperative position and in the other state releasing the mounting member to move to said operative position, and between the counter and retainer a coupling actuatable by the counter at zero count to release said retainer to said other state, at any other count to hold said retainer in said one state, and the counter being adjustable to store a predetermined count and being a retum-to-zero counter in which a stored count will be reducible by one unit by each cycle of movement of the carrier.

2. A duplicating machine comprising a rotatable stencil-carrying drum carrying a stencil on its periphery and, in each rotation of the drum, moving a stencil through a printing position, and a counter operatively coupled to the drum counting successive revolutions of the drum, wherein a stencil spoiler is carried by a lever pivotally mounted adjacent to the periphery of the drum, the lever being reciprocable on its mounting between an operative position in which the spoiler is in engagement with the periphery of the drum and an inoperative position in which the spoiler is spaced from the drum, a twostate retainer coupled to the lever in one state holding the lever in said inoperative position and in its other state releasing the lever to move to said operative position, and between the counter and the retainer a coupling actuatable by the counter at zero count to release the retainer to said other state and at any other count to hold the retainer in said one state, and the counter being adjustable to store a predetennined count and being a return-to-zero counter in which a stored count will be reducible by one unit by each revolution of the drum.

3. A duplicating machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the lever is engaged by a spring to bias the lever into its operative position, the two-state retainer is a solenoid and plunger, and the plunger is connected to the lever to move the lever to its inoperative position when the solenoid is energized, and the coupling between the counter and the two-state retainer is an energizing circuit for the solenoid, said circuit including a switch operable by the counter to be opened by the counter at zero count and to close when the counter is at any other count.

4. A duplicating machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein the counter includes a pulse-receiver, a pulse-generator is actuatable by the drum at each revolution thereof and is coupled to the pulse-receiver to transmit a pulse thereto at each actuation of the pulse-generator by the drum, and the pulsereceiver is operative upon the counter to reduce the count by one unit at each received pulse.

Claims

1. A duplicating machine comprising a cyclically movable stencil carrier repeatedly carrying a stencil in a predetermined path into and out of a printing position and a counter operatively coupled to the carrier to count successive cycles of movement of the carrier, wherein a stencil spoiler is carried by a reciprocable mounting member adjacent to the carrier and the mounting member is reciprocable between an operative position in which the spoiler will be in the path of the stencil and an inoperative position in which the spoiler will be out of said path of the stencil, a two-state retainer coupled to said mounting member in one state holding the mounting member in said inoperative position and in the other state releasing the mounting member to move to said operative position, and between the counter and retainer a coupling actuatable by the counter at zero count to release said retainer to said other state, at any other count to hold said retainer in said one state, and the counter being adjustable to store a predetermined count and being a return-to-zero counter in which a stored count will be reducible by one unit by each cycle of movement of the carrier.

2. A duplicating machine comprising a rotatable stencil-carrying drum carrying a stencil on its periphery and, in each rotation of the drum, moving a stencil through a printing position, and a counter operatively coupled to the drum counting successive revolutions of the drum, wherein a stencil spoiler is carried by a lever pivotally mounted adjacent to the periphery of the drum, the lever being reciprocable on its mounting between an operative position in which the spoiler is in engagement with the periphery of the drum and an inoperative position in which the spoiler is spaced from the drum, a two-state retainer coupled to the lever in one state holding the lever in said inoperative position and in its other state releasing the lever to move to said operative position, and between the counter and the retainer a coupling actuatable by the counter at zero count to release the retainer to said other state and at any other count to hold the retainer in said one state, and the counter being adjustable to store a predetermined count and being a return-to-zero counter in which a stored count will be reducible by one unit by each revolution of the drum.

4. A duplicating machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein the counter includes a pulse-receiver, a pulse-generator is actuatable by the drum at each revolution thereof and is coupled to the pulse-receiver to transmit a pulse thereto at each actuation of the pulse-generator by the drum, and the pulse-receiver is operative upon the counter to reduce the count by one unit at each received pulse.