US3635466A

US3635466A - Elastic mounting assembly

Info

Publication number: US3635466A
Application number: US39004A
Authority: US
Inventors: Guy A Townsend
Original assignee: Burroughs Corp
Current assignee: Unisys Corp
Priority date: 1970-05-20
Filing date: 1970-05-20
Publication date: 1972-01-18
Anticipated expiration: 1989-01-18

Abstract

An elastic mounting assembly having two sets of flexural members each set being flexible in a direction transverse with the other set. Acting in combination the flexures allow a mounted body to be movable in tension from a biased position upon a surface defined by the transverse directions of flexibility of the two sets of flexural members.

Description

ited States Patent [451 Jan. 18, 1972 [WI ll'ZlLASTllC MOUNTING ASSEMBLY [72] lnventor: Guy A. Townsend, Livonia, Mich.

[713] Assignee: Burroughs Corporation, Detroit, Mich.

[22] Filed: May 20, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 39,004

[52] US. Cl ..271/52, 267/160, 271/59 [51 Int. Cl ..B65h 9/16 [58] Field 01Search ..27l/52, 59, 58,49, 48, 55,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,465,997 Piske ..267/160 X Buslik et al. ..27l/52 Albosta ..271/52 Primary Examiner-Evon C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-Bruce H. Stoner, Jr. Attorney-Edwin W. Uren and Kenneth L. Miller [57] ABSTRACT An elastic mounting assembly having two sets of flexural members each set being flexible in a direction transverse with the other set. Acting in combination the flexures allow a mounted body to be movable in tension from a biased position upon a surface defined by the transverse directions of flexibility of the two sets of flexural members.

14 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures SBBSABE WENTED m1 8 m2 SHEET 1 [1F 2 IN VENTOR. GUY A. TOWNSEND AGENT ATENTEDMMIBLWZ QEBBAEQ sum 2 BF 2 ELAS'lllC MOUNTING ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates generally to flexible mountings and specifically to spring mountings for document aligning rollers.

In the art of document handling by machine it is often desirable to move a document into some registered position for the purpose of obtaining access to a particular area of the document for machine reading or for printing information. One common aligning method utilizes two opposed rollers, one being composed of a material such as polished steel having a low coefficient of friction with a paper document and the other roller composed or resilient material such as soft rubber having a high coefficient of friction with both paper and polished metal. The rubber roller is biased in a canted position relative to the direction of motion of a transported document while the metal roller is aligned with the transport motion. When a transported document is interposed between .the rubber roller and the metal roller, the canted rubber roller slides the document along the polished metal surface of the drum in the direction of its cant and toward an aligningguide. Examples of such document aligning apparatus may be seen in the U5. Pats. to Dawson, No. 1,973,749 and to Lockey, No. 3,107,089, the latter being of common ownership herewith.

A U.S. Pat. to Noon, No. 2,767,982 uses a flat metal surface rather than a metal roller on which to slide a document against a stationary aligning guide. The Lockey and Noon patents bias the rubber roller by an offset coiled spring, the roller being pivotally mounted and biased in a canted direction toward an aligning guide by the offset coil spring. The Noon patent has a provision for movement of the rubber roller normal to the direction of document transport to permit documents of varying thickness to be aligned by the apparatus. This normal movement is attained by pivotally coupling the axis of the rubber roller to a stationary supporting member and biasing the rubber roller into contact with the metal surface by the weight of an axis coupling member.

The force applied to the document by the canted rubber roller is critical. It must be of sufiicient magnitude to overcome the frictional force between the metal surface and the document but small enough not to overcome the columnar strength of the document after the document has arrived in abutment with the aligning guide. The offset spring and pivotal design of the prior art, as described above, has a disadvantage in this regard. The pivots in the mounting become clogged with paper dust, common in document handling equipment, and the bearings of the pivots become worn with age. The precise control neededover the canting force of the rubber roller is therefor not attainable over na extended period of use with the mountings of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The elastic mounting assembly herein disclosed provides the precise force necessary to move an item, such as a document, into registration with an aligning surface and with the resilience normal to the direction of document transport to permit alignment of documents of varying thicknesses. In so doing the mounting obviates the need for pivots and bearings with their accompanying deficiencies heretofore pointed out. Two sets of flexural members are used in the subject invention; one to yieldably urge the document against a moving surface, such as the periphery of a rotating drum, and another to urge the document into edgewise alignment with a guide on the moving surface. The invention resides in the combination of two sets of flexural members, each set having a different locus of elastic, yieldable displacement. The sets of flexural members are oriented in transverse relationship. A platform is joined to one of the flexures for mounting a body such as a roller. So mounted, the body has the capability of being elastically and yieldably displaced upon a surface defined by the loci of displacement of the two sets of flexural members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an elastic mounting assembly constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 1A is an isometric view showing the mounting member of the assembly of FIG. 1 but detached therefrom;

FIG. 1B is an isometric view showing the connecting member of FIG. l but detached therefrom;

' FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing a document aligning apparatus incorporating two such elastic mountings;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged frontal view of one of the elastic mountings of FIG. 2 showing the resilient roller thereof riding upon a driven metal drum prior to the interposition of an unaligned document therebetween;

FIG. 4 is a similar view as that of FIG. 3 but showing the resilient roller rocked downwardly after the interposition of a document between the roller and the drum;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the mounting illustrated in FIG. 4 showing the resilient roller rocked downwardly with a document interposed between the drum and the roller; and

FIG. 6 is the same view as that of FIG. 5 but showing the document in alignment with a rim of the drum with the resilient roller having ridden upwardly upon the document.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Tofacilitate an understanding of the subject invention, a preferred embodiment will be described in connection with its use in a document aligning apparatus. The flexural mounting assembly, as shown in FIG. 1 is preferably supported on a rigid supporting member 11 having a lower fastening plate 12 with a slot 13 for firmly securing the member in a desired location by means of a screw or the'like. In the illustrated embodiment of-the invention, the upper portion of the supporting member exhibits a channel-shaped formation with two sidewalls l4- l4 spaced apart substantially parallel to one another and formed in conjunction with one connecting side 15 substantially perpendicular to the two sidewalls.

Joined with broadsides abutting each of the two parallel sidewalls 14I4 of the supporting member 11 and projecting laterally therefrom are four first leaflilte or exterior flexures 116, two associated with each sidewall thereof. A clamping strap 17 associated with each sidewall 14 presses common ends of the flexures I6-l6 associated with each sidewall into rigid alignment therewith. Fasteners such as screws 18 joined to the sidewalls ll4]l4 of the supporting member 11 press the clamping straps 117 into abutment with the flexures 16 against the sidewalls of the supporting member. The flexural members 16 are preferably composed of an elastic metal such as tempered stainless steel and each is similarly elongated in one dimension to assume a strip or leaflike formation projecting in the same direction away from the support I]. and having a thickness which is very small relative to its other two dimensions. The broadsides of all of the exterior flexural members 116 are aligned substantially parallel with one another to establish. a direction of flex or elastically yieldable displacement perpendicular to their broadsides.

A connector 119 of relatively rigid material connects the outer ends of the exterior flexures 16 at points substantially equidistant from the supporting member I1, the flexures, supporting member 111, and connecting member forming an opened boxlike frame. Clamping straps 20 rigidlyjoin the ends of the exterior flexures 16 to the connecting member 19. The connecting member 19, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and IB, has an upper inclined aligning surface 21 and a lower oppositely inclined aligning surface 22. Both aligning surfaces of the connecting member 19 extend substantially perpendicular to the broadsides of the exterior flexures l6 and inclined with the elongated dimensions of the exterior flexures.

Joined in spaced apart relationship with their broadsides abutting the upper aligning surface 21 of the connecting member 19 are two downwardly inclined spaced-apart second leaflike or interior flexures 23-43, each flexure being an elongated strip of elastic metal with two long sides substantially parallel to one another. A third interior or second leaflilte flexure 24 substantially twice as wide as either of the other two interior flexures 23-43 is fastened with its broadside in abutment to the lower aligning surface 22 of the connecting member 19. The third interior flexure 24 inclines upwardly, crossing between the two flexures 2323 mounted on the upper aligning surface.

An item-engaging assembly including a mounting member 25 of relatively rigid material connects the other ends of the crossing second leaflike flexures 23 and 24 and has aligning surfaces 21 and 22' in the same configuration as the connecting member 19, as illustrated in FIG. 1A. The mounting member 25 is positioned in spaced apart, face-to-face relationship with the connector 19 with the

aligning surfaces

21 and 22 and 22 and 21 respectively lying in the same planes. From one side of the mounting member 25, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A, a generally U-shaped mounting arm 26, which may form an integral part of the member, extends outwardly of the flexure assembly and terminates in a position behind the connecting member 19 with respect to the supporting member 1 1. The item-engaging assembly further includes a roller 27 having a periphery composed of material having a high coefi'rcient of friction with the item to bealigned is rotatably coupled at its axis to the extremity of the mounting arm 26 in a biased position for rotation in a plane substantially parallel to the direction of flex of the four exterior flexures 16.

OPERATION As can be ascertained from the foregoing description, the roller 27 mounted on the mounting member 25 is accorded the composite flexible attributes of both the first and the second leaflike flexures. The flexible properties of either set of the flexures can be characterized by the relationship of displacement of the flexure set with the force applied to it. In any substantial degree an elongated leaflike, metal flexure, such as described, can only be deflected by a force or a component of force in a direction perpendicular to its broadsides. A point on a flexure undergoing deflection would transcribe a curved locus of points or a line. As the interior and exterior sets of flexures have their broadsides aligned transversely to one another, the loci or lines transcribed by the two flexures intersect to define a curved planar area upon which movement of the mounted roller 27 is restricted.

By virtue of the securement of the connector 19 to the outer ends of the parallel extending first flexures 16-16, a parallelogram orientation is established with respect to the supporting member 11. The connector 19 will thus be restricted to a bodily translatable movement along a straight line perpendicular to the broadsides of the two pairs of first flexures 16-- 16 as they are elastically bent out of their normal biased position; As for the mounting member 25, by virtue of its connection to the crossing flexure members 23 and 24, it will be restricted with respect to the connector 19 to a rocking or pivotal movement about an axis approximately coinciding with the intersection of these flexures when the latter are elastically bent perpendicularly to their respective broadsides.

A document aligning apparatus such as shown in FIG. 2 has a document feeding chute entrance 28 opening tangentially onto a polished metal periphery or item-bearing surface 29 of a driven drum. The chute has a curved extension 258' having a radius of curvature conforming to that of the drum and positioned opposite a portion of the periphery thereof as shown in FIG; 2. A registration surface or rim 30 of the rotating drum serves as a document edge aligning guide. Between the document chute entrance 28 and a document chute exit 31 are disposed two rubber rollers 27 each mounted on an elastic mounting assembly such as heretofore described. Each elastic assembly is rigidly attached to the structure of the document aligning apparatus by screws 32 through the slot 13 in the lower fastening plate 12 of the supporting member 11. The rubber roller 27 of each elastic assembly is biased in contact with the polished periphery 29 of the driving drum and also canted in a biased direction downwardly toward the registration surface 30 of the drum as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5.

When the rubber roller rides on the item-bearing surface 29 in the absence of a document disposed therebetween, as shown in FIG. 3, it is rolled upwardly into rotational alignment with the driving drum by the frictional force between the roller and the drum thereby tensioning the interior flexures 23 and 24. In this position the roller 27 has a propensity (by reason of the tensioned interior flexures) to return to its biased, canted position but is restrained from so doing by the frictional force described. When a fed document 33 becomes interposed between the rubber roller 27 and the item-bearing surface 29 of the driving drum, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the tensioned interior flexures 23 and 24 of the mounting assembly act to rock the rubber roller into its biased, canted position overcoming the relatively small frictional force between the drum and the document, thereby sliding the document along the polished periphery of the drum and downwardly toward the registration surface 30. When the lower edge of the document comes into engagement with the registration surface 30 as shown in FIG. 6 the rotating roller 27 will ride upwardly from its canted position into rotational alignment with the direction of motion of the transported document and assume the position shown in FIG. 6. It is in this action that the downward rocking force applied by the crossed interior flexures 23 and 24 is critical. If the rocking force is too great it will overcome the columnar strength of the paper document and bend the document outwardly from abutment with the periphery 27 of the driving drum and collapse the document against the registration surface 30. Too small a rocking force would not overcome the frictional force between the paper and the item-bearing surface 29 and would accordingly fail to properly align the document with the registration surface 30. a

When a document is fed, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the first leaflike flexures l6 permit the rubber roller 25 to ride up the edge and onto the surface of the document and outwardly from the item-bearing surface 29, thereby maintaining a force upon the document that is normal to the item-bearing surface. The thickness of the document shown is exaggerated to better illustrate the flexing of the first leaflike flexures 16. In most practical applications the variations in thickness of documents to be aligned are so small relative to the dimensions of the mounting that the normal force applied by the first flexure 16 is substantially constant over a wide range of document thickness.

What is claimed is:

1. An elastic mounting assembly comprising:

a supporting member,

at least two laterally positioned first leaflike flexures having broadsides aligned parallel to one another to permit elastic displacement along a predetermined line,

a connector spaced apart from said supporting member and coupled to said first leaflike flexures,

flexural means coupled to said connector and elastically displaceable along a line transverse to the predetermined line of displacement of said first leaflike flexures, and

a mounting member disposed in spaced apart relationship with said connector and coupled to said flexural means whereby a body mounted on said mounting member is elastically displaceable upon a surface defined by the lines of displacement of said first leaflike flexures and said flexural means.

2. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said first leaflike flexures extend from said supporting member with the outer ends thereof being connected by said connector.

3. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said flexural means is characterized by at least two laterally positioned second leaflike flexures.

4. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein broadsides of said second leaflike flexures are aligned in crossing relationship to one another.

wherein said mounting member is wholly disposed within a frame defined by said first leaflike flexures.

7. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 6, further including a roller positioned exteriorly of said frame and rotatably mounted on said mounting member.

a. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 7, wherein said mounting member additionally comprises a generally U-shaped arm supporting said rotatably mounted roller, said U-shaped arm and said roller being influenced in displacement by said first and said second leaflike flexures to define a predetermined area of permissible planar movement.

9. ln apparatus for transporting and aligning sheet items, said apparatus having an item-bearing surface displaceable edgewise in the direction of item transport and a registration surface intersecting the plane of said item-bearing surface for abutting one edge of a transported sheet item, a device for moving a transported sheet item along the item-bearing surface and into abutment with the registration surface comprismg:

a supporting member rigidly disposed with respect to the item-bearing surface,

at least two first leaflike flexures coupled with said supporting member and elastically displaceable along a line substantially perpendicular to the item-bearing surface,

a connector spaced apart from said supporting member and there coupled to said first leaflike flexures,

flexural means coupled with said connector and elastically displaceable along a line substantially parallel with the item-bearing surface, and

an item engaging assembly spaced apart from said connector and there coupled to said flexural means, said itemengaging assembly being biased normally against said item-bearing surface by said first leaflike flexures and toward said registration surface by said flexural means so that the item-engaging assembly yields to the interposition of the sheet item transported between it and the item-bearing surface and urges an interposed item toward the registration surface.

10. A device as defined in claim 9,.wherein said first leaflike flexures extend from said supporting member with the outer ends thereof being connected by said connector.

11. A device as defined in claim 10. wherein said flexural means is characterized by at least two laterally positioned second leaflike members.

12. A device as defined in claim 11, wherein broadsides of said second leaflike flexures are aligned in crossing relationship to one another.

13. A device as defined in claim 9, wherein said item-engaging assembly is comprised of a roller for engaging an item and urging it toward the registration surface and a mounting member coupled to said flexural means for journaling said roller in axially parallel relationship with the item-bearing surface and in peripheral contact therewith.

14. A device as defined by claim 13, wherein said mounting member is coupled to said flexural means between said connector and said supporting member, and arm of said mounting member extending therefrom for journaling said roller.

:0: a r: a

Claims

1. An elastic mounting assembly comprIsing: a supporting member, at least two laterally positioned first leaflike flexures having broadsides aligned parallel to one another to permit elastic displacement along a predetermined line, a connector spaced apart from said supporting member and coupled to said first leaflike flexures, flexural means coupled to said connector and elastically displaceable along a line transverse to the predetermined line of displacement of said first leaflike flexures, and a mounting member disposed in spaced apart relationship with said connector and coupled to said flexural means whereby a body mounted on said mounting member is elastically displaceable upon a surface defined by the lines of displacement of said first leaflike flexures and said flexural means.

5. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said mounting member is positioned between said connector and said supporting member and is coupled to said second leaflike flexures.

6. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 5, wherein said mounting member is wholly disposed within a frame defined by said first leaflike flexures.

8. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 7, wherein said mounting member additionally comprises a generally U-shaped arm supporting said rotatably mounted roller, said U-shaped arm and said roller being influenced in displacement by said first and said second leaflike flexures to define a predetermined area of permissible planar movement.

9. In apparatus for transporting and aligning sheet items, said apparatus having an item-bearing surface displaceable edgewise in the direction of item transport and a registration surface intersecting the plane of said item-bearing surface for abutting one edge of a transported sheet item, a device for moving a transported sheet item along the item-bearing surface and into abutment with the registration surface comprising: a supporting member rigidly disposed with respect to the item-bearing surface, at least two first leaflike flexures coupled with said supporting member and elastically displaceable along a line substantially perpendicular to the item-bearing surface, a connector spaced apart from said supporting member and there coupled to said first leaflike flexures, flexural means coupled with said connector and elastically displaceable along a line substantially parallel with the item-bearing surface, and an item engaging assembly spaced apart from said connector and there coupled to said flexural means, said item-engaging assembly being biased normally against said item-bearing surface by said first leaflike flexures and toward said registration surface by said flexural means so that the item-engaging assembly yields to the interposition of the sheet item transported between it and the item-bearing surface and urges an interposed item toward the registration surface.

10. A device as defined in claim 9, wherein said first leaflike flexures extend from said supporting member with the outer ends thereof being connected by said connector.

11. A device as defined in claim 10, wherein said flexural means is characterized by at least two laterally positioned second leaflike members.