US3762701A

US3762701A - Auxiliary stiff sheet feeder for newspaper section collating machine

Info

Publication number: US3762701A
Application number: US00143880A
Authority: US
Inventors: W Hannon; C Hannon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-05-17
Filing date: 1971-05-17
Publication date: 1973-10-02
Anticipated expiration: 1990-10-02

Abstract

A vertical stack of stiff sheets is received by the hopper of the feeder with the sheets in a forwardly inclined condition and is supported beneath its lowermost sheet by a series of gripping rollers which are driven by a common shaft. A one-way clutch coupling the shaft with an oscillatory drive element causes the rollers to be driven only during one stroke of the element, at which time the leading end of the lowermost sheet is forced against the front of the hopper to bend the sheet and direct the same down and out the hopper outlet for introduction between a pair of rapidly rotating delivery rollers. The delivery rollers pull the sheet from the gripping rollers at an increased speed, and a friction clutch associated with the gripping rollers retards the freewheeling tendencies of the gripping rollers during this period. A retaining member having an abrasive or irregular outer surface projects into the hopper outlet to prevent more than one of the sheets from being fed at the same time.

Description

United States Patent 1 Hannon et al.

7 m. 3,762,701 1 1 Oct. 2, 1973 1 AUXILIARY STIFE SHEET FEEDER FOR NEWSPAPER SECTION COLLATING MACHINE [73] Assignee: said Warren W. Hannon, by said Charles N. Hannon 221 Filed: May 17,1971

211 Appl.N0.. 143,880

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATlONS Italy 271/41 Primary Examiner-Richard E. Aegerter Att0rneySchmidt, Johnson, Hovey & Williams 57 ABSTRACT A vertical stack of stiff sheets is received by the hopper of the feeder with the sheets in a forwardly inclined condition and is supported beneath its lowermost sheet by a series of gripping rollers which are driven by a common shaft. A one-way clutch coupling the shaft with an oscillatory drive element causes the rollers to be driven only during one stroke of the element, at which time the leading end of the lowermost sheet is forced against the front of the hopper to bend the sheet and direct the same down and out the hopper outlet for introduction between a pair of rapidly rotating delivery rollers. The delivery rollers pull the sheet from the grip ping rollers at an increased speed, and a friction clutch associated with the gripping rollers retards the freewheeling tendencies of the gripping rollers during this period. A retaining member having an abrasive or irregular outer surface projects into the hopper outlet to prevent more than one of the sheets from being fed at the same time.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures FWENTEB 3.762.701

INVENTORS. Warren W. Harmon BY Char/es N. Harmon PATENTEDUET 2 3.762.701

sum 20f 2 INVENTORS. 25 Warren W. Han/won BY Charles N. Hanna/7 MQTWM. A T RNEYS.

AUXILIARY STIFF SHEET FEEDER FOR NEWSPAPER SECTION COLLATING MACHINE This invention relates broadly to the field of newspaper handling equipment and, more particularly, to apparatus for successively feeding relatively stiff sheet inserts or the like to a preselected point of delivery.

Modern metropolitan newspapers are finding it increasingly profitable to include single-sheet advertisement flyers within a complete newspaper edition normally comprising a number of separate sections, this being especially true with regard to a Sunday edition. Such flyers are normally smaller than the corresponding sections with which they are associated and, for the most part, are printed on sheet articles which are inherently relatively stiff, at least to the point of being essentially self-sustaining when positioned in an upright, standing-on-edge condition.

In order to eliminate costly manual stuffing of the flyers it is, of course, extremely desirable to provide suitable machinery to carry out this function. However, as is the case with newspapers in general, the relatively thin and somewhat porous flyer inserts are difiicult to handle, thus presenting problems in designing equipment which is capable of feeding the inserts both rapidly and reliably. Thus, the primary goal of the present invention is to provide apparatus which will successfully accomplish the successive delivery of all of the relatively stiff sheet inserts in a stack thereof without encountering any of the serious drawbacks and disadvantages inherent in equipment heretofore available for carrying out the same purpose.

More particularly, an important aim of the instant invention is to provide a stiff sheet feeder as aforesaid which is adapted to be coupled with, and thereby derive its operating power from the newspaper section feeding apparatus shown and disclosed in our U. S. Letters Patent No. 3,608,891 issued Sept. 28, 1971 and en titled Mechanism For Successively Delivering Sheet Articles From A Stack Thereof To A Folding Machine.

The above-mentioned patent discloses a bottomdelivery feeder having an oscillating gripper pad which crumples the lowermost section in the stack during the backstroke of the pad to thereby remove the leading portion of the section from a supporting shelf and then, during its forward stroke, introduces the released leading portion to a pair of rapidly rotating delivery rollers which complete withdrawal of the section from the stack. Thus, in an effort to lower capital costs and prevent the unnecessary duplication of basic operating equipment, it is an important object of the present invention to couple the gripping rollers of the present feeder with the oscillatory drive structure for the gripper of the above-referenced application by means of a one-way clutch and bearing assembly which would thereby permit driving of the rollers in one direction only and at periodic, timed intervals.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide an improved feeder which takes advantage of the inherently stiff nature of the sheets being fed by successively driving the leading edge of each sheet against a deflector to thereby bend or buckle the sheet and direct the same out of the hopper which contains the stack of sections.

Yet another important object of our invention is the provision of a retaining member which projects into the outlet of the hopper and has an abrasive outer surface which engages the leading edges of the sheets as they are buckled to thereby prevent delivery of more than one sheet at a time through the outlet.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, top plan view of the newspaper section feeder of our above-mentioned patent having the stiff sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention mounted in place thereon;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, vertical, cross-sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary detailed view of the gripping assembly of the feeder with parts shown in cross section and in elevation for clarity;

FIG. 4 is a vertical, cross-sectional view of the feeder from the rear thereof with the gripping assembly removed for clarity;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3 illustrating in detail the one-way clutch bear- FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing a stack of stiff sheets within the hopper of the feeder in preparation for feeding thereof; and

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 showing the condition of the components of the feeder when the feeding cycle is half completed.

The newspaper section feeding apparatus disclosed in our above-mentioned patent is denoted broadly by the numeral 10 and includes a pair of upstanding sidewalls 12 between which the stiff sheet feeding unit 14 is positioned as shown most clearly in FIG. 1. The apparatus 10 also includes a slightly inclined shelf 16 at the rear of the apparatus which is normally used to support the newspaper sections being delivered, a gripper 18 which is affixed to and oscillates with a horizontally extending drive shaft 20, and a set of oppositely driven delivery rollers 22 at the front of the apparatus 20, the lower set of delivery rollers 22 being supported for movement toward and away from the upper set of rollers 22 in timed relationship with the oscillation of the shaft 20 and the gripper 18.

The stiff sheet feeder 14 includes an inclined table 24 which is bolted at opposite ends thereof to the walls 12 of apparatus 10 and has a U-shaped frame affixed thereto which comprises a pair of forwardly extending arms 28 and a front cross member 30 which spans the distance therebetween. The unit 14 is also provided with a sheet-receiving hopper 32 which is formed by a pair of L-shaped, upstanding side guides 34 slidably supported by the member 30 for movement therealong, and an inverted, U-shaped support 36 which is magnetically secured to the surface of table 24 and has an uppermost inclined surface 38. Thus, the long legs 40 of the guides 34 form the sides of the hopper 32, while the short legs 42 thereof and the inclined surface 38 of support 36 form the front and rear, respectively, of the hopper 32. The lowermost ends 44 of the guide legs 42 are bent back at approximately a 45 angle with respect to the remainder of the legs 42 to present an outlet area 46 for the hopper 32.

The arms 28 support therebetween a horizontally extending drive shaft 48 which has a number of frictiontype gripping rollers 50 secured thereto at spaced intervals therealong for rotation with the shaft 48. The upper periphery of each of the rollers 50 projects into the hopper 32 thereabove and is disposed considerably above the outlet 46 and slightly above the surface of table 24 as shown best in FIG. 2 of the drawings.

In order to adapt the unit 14 to be driven by the drive shaft 20 of apparatus 10, a large gear 52 is affixed to one end of the latter and meshes with a smaller gear 54 on the corresponding end of shaft 48. The gear 54 is provided with a central bore within which a one-way roller clutch 56 is provided, as shown in FIG. 3, which receives the end of the shaft 48. The clutch bearing 56 may take the form of the cup roller clutch produced by The Torrington Company which is disclosed in any one or more of the following U.S. Pats:

No. 3,184,020 No. 3,241,641

No. 3,194,368 No. 3,260,333

As shown in detail in FIG. 5, the clutch 56 is oriented such that the shaft 48 is immediately seized by clutch 56 when the gear 54 is rotated in a clockwise direction, yet is released to freewheel in the same direction when the gear 54 remains stationary or is rotated in a counterclockwise direction. Thus, in any event, the shaft 48 is allowed to rotate only in a clockwise direction, whether in a freewheeling manner or by means of a driving force applied to the gear 54.

Each of the arms 28 has a bearing 58 secured thereto which journals the shaft 48 for rotation, and one end of the shaft 48, as shown in detail in FIG. 3, has a friction clutch 60 associated therewith to retard the freewheeling tendencies of the shaft 48 during operation. Clutch 60 includes a coil spring 62 which is interposed between a collar 64 rigid to the shaft 48, and a nylon washer 66 which bears against another washer 68 on the proximal end of the bearing 58.

A block 70 on the front cross member 30 between the side guides 34 has a vertically extending slot 72 which receives an elongated retainer 74, as shown best in FIG. 4, in the nature of a file or similar object having an abrasive or irregular outer surface. The outer surface of the retainer 74 is disposed behind the surfaces of the legs 42 of guides 34 and a setscrew 76 on the block 70 permits vertical adjustment of the retainer 74 within slot 72, normally holding the retainer 74 in a position wherein the lower end thereof extends downwardly into the hopper outlet 46. Thus, the only portion of the retainer 74 that is presented for engagement with the sheets in the hopper 32 is that portion which extends into the outlet 46. An upstanding rod 78 secured to the block 70 slidably receives a weight 80 which maintains downward pressure upon the sheets in the stack during operation of the unit 14.

OPERATION When the apparatus is to be utilized in conjunction with the stiff sheet unit 14 rather than as a feeder for folded sections, little, if any, modification of the apparatus 10 is necessary in preparation for the unit 14. Of course, it is to be understood that when the stiff sheet feeder unit 14 is used, no newspaper sections at all will be delivered by the apparatus 10; instead, the apparatus 10 will be utilized solely for the delivery of stiff sheets through the unit 14.

Once the unit 14 has been secured in place, a stack of the stiff sheets may be placed in the hopper 32 with the guides 34 adjusted appropriately and the support 36 shifted into a position as shown in FIG. 6 beneath the rear of the stack. The gripping rollers 50 support the front of the stack and, because the upper periphery of each of the rollers 50 is disposed below the inclined surface 38 of support 36, the sheets in the stack are inclined downwardly with the leading ends thereof tipped toward the hopper outlet 46. Manifestly, further adjustment of the support 36 toward and away from the front cross member 30 will vary the inclination of the sheets in the stack. Once the stack is properly disposed, the weight may be placed upon the rod 78 to assure continued downward pressure upon the sheet in the stack.

Actuation of power mechanism (not shown) operates to oscillate the drive shaft 20 of the apparatus 10 at one speed, while the delivery rollers 22 are driven at a much greater speed and open and close as the shaft 20 oscillates. It is contemplated that such power mechanism may take the form of the mechanism shown and described in our earlier mentioned copending application and, accordingly, at this juncture said application is hereby incorporated by reference into the present application for a full and complete understanding of the nature and operation of the power mechanism.

Initially, the components of the apparatus 10 and unit 14 are in the condition illustrated in FIG. 6 with the gripper 18 in a 4:00 oclock position with the delivery rollers 22 disposed together. As the shaft 20 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction moving the gripper 18 in its backstroke toward the 11:00 oclock position illustrated in FIG. 7, the gear 52 drives the smaller gear 54 in a clockwise direction thereby imparting the same type of rotation to the clutch 56. Clutch 56 thereby seizes the shaft 48 and rotates the same in a clockwise direction to impart similar rotation to the gripping rollers 50. This causes the leading end of the lowermost sheet in the stack to be driven against the legs 42 of guides 34, which thereupon serve as deflectors and cause the sheet to bend or buckle intermediate its ends. Continued rotation of the rollers 50 causes the leading end of the lowermost sheet to slide downwardly along the legs 42 until it reaches the outlet 46, by which time the delivery rollers 22 have separated almost to the extent shown in FIG. 7. Further rotation of the gripping rollers 50 introduces the leading end of the lowermost sheet between the separated delivery rollers 22, at which time the latter close about the sheet and, since they are rotating at a higher speed than the rollers 50, pull the sheet from the rollers 50 to complete withdrawal of the sheet from the stack.

As the shaft 20 is driven in the opposite direction, returning the gripper 18 in a forward stroke toward its FIG. 6 position, the small gear 54 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction. Normally, this action would also cause the shaft 48 to rotate in the same direction. However, because of the clutch 56, shaft 48 is precluded from rotating in a counterclockwise direction and, in fact, continues to rotate in a clockwise direction during this time because of the friction between the gripping rollers 50 and the section thereabove being rapidly withdrawn by the delivery rollers 22. Once the sheet being removed is completely withdrawn from the stack, the shaft 48 would tend to freewheel in a clockwise direction were it not for the presence of the friction clutch 60 which prevents such action. Therefore, once the trailing end of the sheet has left the rollers 50, the latter are in condition for feeding the next sheet. The above cycle is then repeated until the supply of sheets in the hopper 32 is depleted.

In certain instances, especially where the sheets being fed are thinner than average, rotation of the gripping rollers 50 against the lowermost sheet in the stack, causes several of the other sheets disposed immediately thereabove to be deflected by the front guide legs 42 and directed toward the outlet 46. However, as the leading ends of the deflected sheets reach the outlet 46,

they engage the retainer 74 which precludes further movement of all but the lowermost sheet that is, at this point, the driving force of the rollers 50 is sufficient to remove only the lowermost sheet from the retainer 74, while the remaining sheets are left behind for the succeeding cycle. Therefore, the retainer 74 assures that only one of the sheets will be fed during each operating cycle.

It is contemplated that the feeder 14 may be used as an integral component of a newspaper edition collating machine which may be formed by placing a number of the section feeders of our earlier mentioned patent (one for each section of the edition) in a line above a moving conveyor. By timing the operation of the aligned section feeders, the sections of the edition may be deposited one on top of the other as the conveyor advances. A stiff advertising sheet may then be added to the edition by the present invention at the end of the line or anywhere between the opposite ends thereof by simply placing the stiff sheet feeder in the proper location.

It may, therefore, be appreciated that the stiff sheet feeder as hereinabovve described, is capable of successfully carrying out the objects initially set forth in this application and provides a means of delivering stiff sheets which is highly reliable. Not only may the feeder be quickly and easily installed and prepared for operation as an auxiliary feeding device, but full advantage is taken of the inherently stiff nature of the sheets to deflect and direct the same out of the hopper 32 for delivery. Moreover, the provision of the retainer 74 guarantees that no more sheets than is absolutely necessary will be delivered, thereby holding down the overall cost of adding the sheets to complete newspaper editions.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: 1. In combination with a newspaper feeding machine having open bottom hopper means and a rotary gripping assembly beneath the hopper means oscillatable up into the latter from alternate, opposite directions to first buckle the lowermost newspaper of a stack thereof within the hopper means to pull a leading edge of the newspaper free from the stack and to then unbuckle the newspaper to displace the leading edge forwardly, an auxiliary insert article feeder mounted within said hopper means in lieu of the newspapers comprising:

a frame; an insert article hopper secured to said frame for receiving a stack of the articles; an article gripper rotatably mounted on said frame in disposition for engaging and feeding from the article hopper the lowermost article of the stack; and one-way clutch mechanism operably coupling said article gripper with said gripping-assembly of the newspaper feeding machine for intermittently driving the gripper in a feeding direction during oscillation of said assembly to successively feed the articles from the article hopper. 2. The article feeder as claimed. in claim 1, said newspaper feeding machine further having means for removing each article from the gripper at a faster rate than the article is shifted by the grip- P said clutch permitting the gripper to freewheel in said direction about an axis extending transversely of the stack in response to removal of the article by said removal means; and a friction clutch associated with said gripper for retarding freewheeling thereof as the article is being removed.

Claims

1. In combination with a newspaper feeding machine having open bottom hopper means and a rotary gripping assembly beneath the hopper means oscillatable up into the latter from alternate, opposite directions to first buckle the lowermost newspaper of a stack thereof within the hopper means to pull a leading edge of the newspaper free from the stack and to then unbuckle the newspaper to displace the leading edge forwardly, an auxiliary insert article feeder mounted within said hopper means in lieu of the newspapers comprising: a frame; an insert article hopper secured to said frame for receiving a stack of the articles; an article gripper rotatably mounted on said frame in disposition for engaging and feeding from the article hopper the lowermost article of the stack; and one-way clutch mechanism operably coupling said article gripper with said gripping-assembly of the newspaper feeding machine for intermittently driving the gripper in a feeding direction during oscillation of said assembly to successively feed the articles from the article hopper.

2. The article feeder as claimed in claim 1, said newspaper feeding machine further having means for removing each article from the gripper at a faster rate than the article is shifted by the gripper, said clutch permitting the gripper to freewheel in said direction about an axis extending transversely of the stack in response to removal of the article by said removal means; and a friction clutch associated with said gripper for retarding freewheeling thereof as the article is being removed.