US3606836A - Rotary ribbon shuttle - Google Patents
Rotary ribbon shuttle Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US3606836A US3606836A US813101A US3606836DA US3606836A US 3606836 A US3606836 A US 3606836A US 813101 A US813101 A US 813101A US 3606836D A US3606836D A US 3606836DA US 3606836 A US3606836 A US 3606836A
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- ribbon
- printing
- bight
- cams
- rotary
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
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Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J33/00—Apparatus or arrangements for feeding ink ribbons or like character-size impression-transfer material
- B41J33/14—Ribbon-feed devices or mechanisms
- B41J33/36—Ribbon-feed devices or mechanisms with means for adjusting feeding rate
Definitions
- An ink transfer ribbon advancing mechanism for a high speed rotary printing press including a pair of eccentric rollers one on each side of the rolling bight of the press in frictional contact with the ribbon for alternately accelerating and decelerating the velocity of the ribbon through the bight.
- Serial printers of rotary and non-rotary design have been employed to print successive forms with recent use found in printing MICR impregnated documents.
- high-speed rotary printing techniques have found common usage wherein a web or roll medium is imprinted by action of rotary members consisting of an anvil roll against which is successively pressed, a plurality of numbering machines mounted in the periphery of a drum. High-speed operation is achieved by continuous motion of the rotary members thereby imprinting without interruption of the continuously fed paper web or roll.
- the numbering machines may be used in any desirable number and as such are drum mounted so that they present a set of characters that extend beyond the face of the drum. As the drum is rotated, each numbering machine is brought into squeezing contact with the anvil roll thereby constituting a printing bight. A print medium receives character impregnation as it is acted upon by a transfer ribbon engaged by the numbering machines in the bight. After each impregnation, another numbering machine rotates into printing contact with a progressive portion of the print medium and prints a progressive or repetitive alpha-numeric code upon the medium. However, giving the rotating members continuous motion is not enough to perform a satisfactory printing cycle.
- a principal object of this invention is to provide a simplified apparatus for continuously shuttling a transfer ribbon through a rotary printing bight, that substantially utilizes all of the area of the ribbon.
- Another object is to provide a vibration and noise free apparatus which is used to shuttle a transfer ribbon through a rotary printing bight so that only the approximate amount of ribbon used in the printing contact is advanced through the bight.
- the invention comprises a pair of like eccentric rollers or cams, one on each side of a printing bight, oriented for complementary action and cooperating through frictional contact with the ribbon to accelerate and decelerate a transfer ribbon through the bight in an undulating manner.
- the eccentric rollers rotate in opposite directions and are coordinated with the rotary printing bight to accelerate the ribbon so that at the time printing couple occurs on the print medium, the ribbon has achieved velocity equal to that of the other members of the printing bight.
- the eccentric rollers decelerate the ribbon, thereby substantially conserving the amount of ribbon passing through the bight.
- Ribbon is fed to and received from the eccentric rollers at a constant rate by variable speed feed and take-up spools which are metered and regulated to compensate for diminishing or increasing ribbon accumulation thereon.
- a constant rate of ribbon feed can be maintained in as much as the acceleration imparted to the ribbon carried between the eccentric rollers is solely contained therebetween and is achieved by the complementary camming surface of the eccentric rollers acting upon the ribbon.
- FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic end view of applicants rotary ribbon shuttle showing the relationship of the operative 3 parts in an embodiment of the apparatus employing single lobe cams.
- FIG. 2 is a modification of the apparatus as shown in FIG. 1 utilizing double lobe cams.
- a rotary ribbon printing press utilizes a transfer ribbon 11 from which a printing substance, such as magnetic ink, is transferred to a print medium 13 in the form of a continuously moving web or roll.
- a rotating printing drum 15 squeezes the transfer ribbon 11 and the print medium 13 against the anvil roll 19 to form a printing bight.
- the printing drum 15 may be any known printing drum including one with characters dispersed about its circumferential area or one utilizing numbering machines mounted around its periphery.
- the preferred embodiment envisions the use of a plurality of numbering machines 17 displaced equidistance about the circumference of the printing drum 15, arranged in appropriate number and spacing to correspond to the progressive printing area presented by the print medium 13 as it advances through the printing bight.
- the printing drum 15 and the anvil roll 19 rotate so that their circumferences travel in rolling cooperation and at the same velocity in a constant smooth motion.
- the transfer ribbon 11 and print medium 13 travel through the line of tangency of the circumferences of the printing drum 15 and anvil roll 19.
- the velocity of the print medium 13 is matched to that of the printing drum 15 and anvil roll 19 and feeds between them at a smooth and constant rate.
- the velocity of the transfer ribbon 11 through the bight varies, reaching its maximum of a velocity equal to that of the drum 15, roll 19, and print medium 13, at the time of printing contact then decreasing to substantially lower velocity during nonprinting time. This fluctuation in velocity is accomplished by the concerted action of the eccentric rollers or cams 21 and 23 upon the transfer ribbon 11.
- Single lobe cams 21 and 23 are positioned prior to and after the printing bight.
- the cams 21 and 23 are tear-drop shaped with their axis of rotation located in the broader end of the cam. Each of their lobes is the apex of the tear-drop and it is described by the periphery at the greatest distance from the center of rotation. Both cams 21 and 23 operate at the same rate of axial rotation with their lobes cooperating by complementary action to reciprocate the ribbon 11 through the printing bight.
- the cams 21 and 23 are of single lobe tear drop configuration, as described above.
- the cams 21 and 23 rotate in opposite directions and are positioned on their shafts 22 and 24 so that the lobes are pointed in the same direction when parallel with, and in opposite direction when perpendicular to, the portion of the transfer ribbon 11 between the cams 21 and 23 and in the bight.
- the surfaces of the eccentric rollers 21 and 23 in contact with the ribbon 11 are smooth enough to allow the ribbon 11 to slide over the surface during part of this rotation and to drive the ribbon 11 during another part, as explained more fully hereinafter.
- the transfer ribbon 11 is disposed around and in contact with the cams 21 and 23. It receives its animation from the rotation of the cams 21 and 23 and moves in an undulating motion through the printing bight.
- the effect of the coordinated action of the cams 21 and 23 on the transfer ribbon 11, is to impart an acceleration followed by a rapid deceleration and a relatively long period of retarded ribbon advance.
- the action of acceleration is 4 coordinated so that it occurs in time to accelerate the velocity of the transfer ribbon 11 to the velocity of the anvil roll 19, printing drum 15 and print medium 13 at the instant of printing.
- the distinctive motion given to the transfer ribbon 11 may be best understood if its progress is followed around and between the cams 21 and 23. As the lobe of the cam 23 rotates counterclockwise through it acts with its relatively larger radius, on the portion of the transfer ribbon 11 extended between it and the cam 21. Concurrently, the ribbon 11 is sliding over the smaller radius of cam 21 thereby releasing the amount of lineal ribbon 11 previously acted upon by the larger radius of cam 21 and now required by the larger radius of the cam 23.
- the complementary give and take of the cams 21 and 23 allows a constant length of ribbon 11 to be disposed around and between the cams 21 and 23.
- cam 23 As the lobe of cam 23 continues to rotate counterclockwise through 180, the ribbon 11 slides over cam 235 smaller radius thus releasing the amount of lineal ribbon 11 required by the larger radius of cam 21 which has rotated 180 clockwise to operate on the ribbon 11 with its larger radius.
- the lobe of the cam 23 occupies a relatively small amount of the circumference.
- cam 23 As cam 23 rotates, its lobe contacts transfer ribbon 11 for a brief period and acts with its larger radius to impart an acceleration to the velocity of the length of ribbon 11 between it and the cam 21. This impulse is timed so that it coincides with the moment of printing contact.
- Mechanisms for driving shafts 22 and 24in synchronization and for adjusting the speed of one shaft with respect to another having long been known.
- the relative sizes of the radius of the cams 2 1 and 23 and relative velocity of the cams 21 and 23 with respect to the rotational velocity of the print drum 15 and the anvil roll 19 can easily be adjusted by one skilled in the art to gain maximum efiiciency in utilization of the transfer ribbon 11.
- the transfer ribbon 11 is supplied to the cam 21 at a constant rate by the feed spool 25.
- the spool 25 operates at a variable speed to maintain a constant rate of ribbon feed as the quantity of ribbon 11 on said spool 25 decreases, as is known in the art.
- Metering roll 27 rests against the spool 25 and senses the quantity of ribbon 11 on the spool 25 and supplies a signal, by suitable known means, to the drive mechanism of the spool 25 to adjust its rate of rotation.
- the roll 29 acts on the spool 25 to tighten and secure the ribbon 11 on said spool 25, thereby preventing slack and spillage.
- the take-up spool 31 performs the opposite function of the feed spool 25. It too has a metering roll 33 that adjusts its speed, as known, to provide a smooth decreasing rate of rotation, as the amount of ribbon 11 on the spool 31 increases, thereby receiving the transfer ribbon 11 from the cam 23 at a uniform rate.
- the roll 35 acts to tighten the ribbon 11 upon the spool 31 thereby preventing sli page and slack.
- the posts 37 and 39 act in unison between the spool 25 and the cam 21 to stabilize the position of the ribbon 11 as the cam 21 rotates and acts on the ribbon 11 with its unsymmetrical periphery.
- the posts 41 and 43 are interposed between the cams 21 and 23 to maintain the ribbon 11 in a stable plane as it passes through the printing bight.
- the posts 45 and 47 act in a similar fashion as the posts 37 and 39 to stabilize the ribbon 11 as it travels from the cam 23 to the spool 31.
- This invention is envisioned for principal use in serial ribbon-printers featuring rotatably mounted numbering machines.
- single lobe cams 21 and 23 will be employed to impart matching velocity to a transfer ribbon 11 passing through.
- a printing bight composed of an. anvil roll 19 against which numbering machines 17 engage a print medium 13 and a transfer ribbon 11 in printing couple.
- Matched cams 21 and 23 are positioned on each side of the bight and will impart an undulating motion to a transfer ribbon 11 over its length tensioned between the cams 21 and 23.
- the ribbon 11 will be fed to and received from the cams 21 and 23 at a constant rate. The only variation in ribbon velocity will occur between the cams 21 and 23.
- the quantity of characters arranged around the printing drum 15 is increased to correspond.
- printing contact occurs more frequently per revolution than where there is larger distance between print regions. Consequently, it is necessary to increase the number of times ribbon synchronization occurs to correspond to the increased printing contacts per revolution.
- the speed of the earns 21 and 23 may be proportionally increased or multiple lobe cams, running at the same or lower speed may be substituted to achieve the desired ribbon synchronization. Flexibility inheres from the ability to vary either separately, or in coordination, the number of lobes per cam and/ or its rate of revolution.
- FIG. 2 shows an alternate embodiment in which the eccentric rollers are double lobed earns 49 and 51 mounted on shafts 48 and 52 replace the single lobed cams 21 and 23 respectively, the cams 49 and 51 being positioned with the projection of their major axes perpendicular to each other when one or the other has its major axis parallel to the portion of the ribbon 11 between the cams 49 and 51 and in the bight.
- the remainder of the apparatus retains its relationship.
- This embodiment provides for matching the velocity of the ribbon 11 to the printing bight twice per revolution of the earns 49 and 51 at about half the speed of the cams 21 and 23 shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1.
- Double lobed cams 49 and 51 may be employed where space permits and in accordance with ribbon size. The wider the ribbon, the easier it is to employ multiple lobed cams, since more frictional contact is involved. The advantage derived from employing multiple lobed cams is further economy in mechanical work to drive transfer ribbon 11.
- a rotary printing press having an anvil roll against which a printing drum presses to form a printing bight and means for feeding and taking up a transfer ribbon, the improvement comprising:
- a rotary shuttle for alternately accelerating and decelerating the velocity of a portion of said ribbon through said bight including,
- rollers are single lobed cams.
- rollers are double lobed cams.
- a rotary printing press utilizing a transfer ribbon comprising;
- eccentric rotary means in frictional contact with said ribbon for accelerating and decelerating the velocity of a portion of said ribbon through said bight.
- said means for accelerating and decelerating the velocity of a portion of said ribbon includes a pair of single lobe cams, one on each side of said bight, said ribbon being threaded around at least a portion of the surface of each of said cams.
- said means for accelerating and decelerating the velocity of a portion of said ribbon includes a pair of double lobe cams, one on each side of said bight, said ribbon being threaded around at least a portion of the surface of each of said cams.
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- Impression-Transfer Materials And Handling Thereof (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US81310169A | 1969-04-03 | 1969-04-03 |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US3606836A true US3606836A (en) | 1971-09-21 |
Family
ID=25211453
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US813101A Expired - Lifetime US3606836A (en) | 1969-04-03 | 1969-04-03 | Rotary ribbon shuttle |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US3606836A (en) |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4632582A (en) * | 1985-02-22 | 1986-12-30 | Centronics Data Computer Corp. | Ribbon feed mechanism providing a constant relative velocity between ribbon and print head |
US5115737A (en) * | 1990-04-16 | 1992-05-26 | Philip Morris Incorporated | Hot rotary stamper apparatus and methods for metal leaf stamping |
-
1969
- 1969-04-03 US US813101A patent/US3606836A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4632582A (en) * | 1985-02-22 | 1986-12-30 | Centronics Data Computer Corp. | Ribbon feed mechanism providing a constant relative velocity between ribbon and print head |
US5115737A (en) * | 1990-04-16 | 1992-05-26 | Philip Morris Incorporated | Hot rotary stamper apparatus and methods for metal leaf stamping |
AU651964B2 (en) * | 1990-04-16 | 1994-08-11 | Philip Morris Products Inc. | Hot rotary stamper apparatus and methods for metal leaf stamping |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: BURROUGHS CORPORATION Free format text: MERGER;ASSIGNORS:BURROUGHS CORPORATION A CORP OF MI (MERGED INTO);BURROUGHS DELAWARE INCORPORATED A DE CORP. (CHANGED TO);REEL/FRAME:004312/0324 Effective date: 19840530 |
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AS | Assignment |
Owner name: STANDARD REGISTER COMPANY THE, A CORP. OF OHIO Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.;ASSIGNOR:BURROUGHS CORPORATION A CORP. OF DE.;REEL/FRAME:004568/0718 Effective date: 19860531 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., GEORGIA Free format text: NOTICE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS;ASSIGNOR:THE STANDARD REGISTER COMPANY;REEL/FRAME:024170/0252 Effective date: 20100331 Owner name: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.,GEORGIA Free format text: NOTICE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS;ASSIGNOR:THE STANDARD REGISTER COMPANY;REEL/FRAME:024170/0252 Effective date: 20100331 |
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AS | Assignment |
Owner name: THE STANDARD REGISTER COMPANY, OHIO Free format text: SECURITY INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:036283/0153 Effective date: 20150731 Owner name: THE STANDARD REGISTER COMPANY, OHIO Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.;REEL/FRAME:036283/0027 Effective date: 20150731 |
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AS | Assignment |
Owner name: THE STANDARD REGISTER COMPANY, OHIO Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:036304/0175 Effective date: 20150731 |