US785821A - Printing-press. - Google Patents

Description

No. 785,821. PATENTED MAR. 28, 1905.

' E. N. MILLS.

PRINTING PRESS.

APILIOATION FILED AUG. 3, 1904.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED MAR. 28, 1905.

E. N. MILLS.

' PRINTING PRESS.

APPLIUATION FILED AUG. 3, 1904.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Swan/fol PATENTBD MAR. 28. 1905.

- E. N. MILLS. PRINTING PRESS.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 3, 1904.

6 SHEETS-SHBET 3.

NE N 0w PATENTED MAR. 28, 1905.

' B. N. MILLS.

PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 3, 1904 GSHEETS-SHBET 4.

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No. 785,821. I PATENTED MAR. 28; 1905.

' B. N. MILLS.-

PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION IILED AUG. 3, 1904.

- 6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

UNITED STATES Patented March 28, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

EDWVARD N. MILLS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO N. H. SMITH, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

PRINTING-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 785,821, dated March 28, 1905.

. Application filed August 3, 1904- Serial No. 219,283.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD N. MILLs, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in printing-presses, the object of my invention 1 being to provide means for taking the paper from the feed-box directly onto the impression-cylinder without any intermediate mechanism; also, to provide means for relieving the lowest sheet of a pile from the way of the superincumbent sheets, thus preventing the accidental tearing of thin paper which occasionally happens with feeding devices at present in use; also, to provide means for taking the paper onto the cylinder through the medium of an exhaust, and in doing so to economize the amount of suction necessary and the power required to produce such suction.

My invention therefore resides in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement 5 of parts for the above ends hereinafter fully specified, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a rear view, partly broken away, of the press.

3 Fig. 2 is a broken detail view of the disk for reciprocating the bed. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of the press. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the other side of the press. Fig. 5 is a detail of the controllervalve for the suction. Fig. 6 is a broken plan view of the press. Fig. 7 is an enlarged longitudinal section, partly broken away, of the feed-box and the parts immediately adjacent thereto. Fig. 8 is a similar view of 4 the parts in a different position. Fig. 9 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the end of the impression-cylinder. Fig. 10 is an enlarged broken plan view thereof. Fig. 11 is an enlarged broken perspective View of said impression-cylinder. Fig. 12 is a cross-section of the vacuum-conduit through one of the suction-holes. Fig. 13 is a section through the shaft of the impression-cylinder at the end i which the bed 4: rceiprocates.

thereof, the gear being removed. Fig. 14 is a cross-section of the impression-cylinder. 5o

1 represents a suitable frame having side pieces 2 and grooves 3 in said side pieces in 5 represents the driving-shaft, on which is secured a mitergear 6, meshing with a miter-gear? on a vertical shaft 8, having secured on its upper end a disk 9. having therein a slot 10. In said slot is a pin 11, attached to a horizontal pitman 12, carrying at its other end a pin 13, attached to the under side of the bed 4. By reason of this construction the bed is reciprocated by the revolution of the shaft 5. Said bed carries on each side a rack 16, with which mesh gearwheels 17, secured upon the ends of the cylinder l8. Said cylinder has a shaft 19, the 5 ends of which are mounted in boxes 20, which slide in guides 21, formed upon the frame 1. On the ends of said shaft 19, outside said boxes, are mounted smaller gear-wheels 22, which mesh with stationary racks 23, mounted 7 upon the frame. The elfect of this construction is that when the bed is moved longitudinally in one direction the cylinder rotates and also moves bodily in the opposite direction.

Upon the rear end of the frame are secured boxes 25 for the stationary inking-rollers 26, of which there are here shown three in number, which inking-rollers deposit ink upon the bed as it passes beneath them, and secured to the boxes 20 of the cylinder are extensions 27, in which are pivoted the distributing-r01lers 28, which distribute over the bed the ink brought by the bed from the inkingrollers. This construction, however, forms no part of my present invention. 8 5

The paper-feed box 29 comprises a bottom 30, which slides in grooves 31 in the main frame, a back piece 32, adjustable forward and backward on said bottom by means of a slot 33 and thumb-screw 3 1, side walls 35, It 9 justable on said back piece by means of slots 36 and thumb-screws 37, and a front wall 38, having horizontal arms 39, hinged, as shown at 40, to the bottom 30. Said bottom is cut away in the middle and at its front portion, and the rear portion 41 of the bottom is still further cut away at its front edge in a number of recesses 42, corresponding in number and position with rollers 43 on a shaft 44. Upon the narrow strips 45, left by cutting out the middle of thebottom, rest the arms 39.

The forward motion of the paper-feed box is accompanied by a slightly upward motion, which is given to it by making the groove 31 incline slightly upward for instance, threequarters of an inch to a foot, which inclination, however, may be varied more or less as may be found necessary. The box is moved backward and forward by the following construction: Upon the main shaft is mounted a gear-wheel 46, which meshes with a pinion 47 upon a counter-shaft 48, extending transversely or parallel with the main shaft, upon one end of which shaft 48 is secured a crank 49, to which is secured a socket 50, receiving a pitman 51, the other end of which is secured in a socket 52. The ends of the pitman 51 are threaded right and left, so that by turning said pitman in said sockets its working length can be increased or diminished, as required. The outer socket 52 is secured by a slotted connection 53 to an arm 54 of a segmental gear 55, mounted upon a shaft 56, having its bearing in the frame 1. This segmental gear meshes with a pinion 57 on the shaft 44. This pinion 57 drives the shaft 44, which carries two spur-wheels 59, which engage two racks 60, secured upon the under sides of the strips 45, forming part of the bottom of the feedbox, so that by the revolution of said pinion said racks and the feed-box are caused to move longitudinally.

The sheets of paper placed in the box rest at their rear upon that part 41 of the bottom which is not cut out and at their front portion upon the aforesaid rollers 43, covered with rubber, so that the extreme front edge of the lowest sheet of paper is free. This edge is caused to be separated from the edges of the remaining sheets by the following mechanism: 62 is a vacuum-pum p driven from the shaft 48. From said pump leads a pipe 63 to a vacuum-tank 64, from which leads a pipe 65, having branches 66, which are connected by flexible pipes 67 with boxes 68, secured upon the ends of the hollow cylindershaft 19, each box 68 having at each end a stufiing-box 69. The shaft 19 is perforated, as shown at 70, where it is surrounded by the box 68, and air is at the proper time sucked out of the cylinder-shaft through a spring-actuated valve 71 at each end of the cylinder operated by. means of an adjustable wedge 72 in the movement of the cylinder.

The cylinder has a longitudinal recess 75, which receives a vacuum-conduit 76, having a number of openings 77 on its upper side to suck the air through, the openings being arranged obliquely, as shown, and this vacuumconduit is connected at the ends by pipes 78 with the interior of the shaft 19, and is therefore connected, when the valves 71 are open, with the hose leading to the vacuum-tank. Now when the cylinder has arrived at the proper place underneath the edge of the lowest sheet of paper the wedges 72 impinge upon the ends of the valves 71 and force them inward, opening the valves and creating a suction to the pump. This suction takes place when the front edge of the sheet of paper is immediately over the holes 77, and the suction through said holes therefore draws down the edge of the paper onto the vacuum-conduit. Then when the valves 71 are closed again sufficient exhaust remains in the vacuum-conduit 76 to hold the edge of the paper firmly onto said conduit. The oblique holes 77 in said vacuum-conduit are formed by short rubber tubes which project slightly above the surface of the conduit and on the ends of which the sheet of paper rests. These short tubes absolutely insure a connection between the exhaust and paper without leakage and unaffected by the presence of bits of paper or other foreign particles upon the cylinder. Being of rubber, no mark is left upon the paper. Immediately afterward gripper-fingers 8O descend upon the edge of the paper. These gripper-fingers extend upwardly from a transverse gripper-bar 81, having bearings in boxes 82 in the recess 75, and the fingers extend from said bar upward and rearwardly toward the edge of the vacuum-conduit 76. Before said conduit was connected with exhaust by the opening of the valves 71 said fingers were raised by the engagement of wedges 84 with spring-actuated stems 85, having on their ends wedges 86, engaging wedges 87 on the gripper-bar; but as soon as the edge of the sheet has been drawn down by suction onto the vacuum conduit the wedges 86 are withdrawn from the wedges 87, and the gripper-fingers 80 drop by gravity onto the edge of the sheet. Springs may be used to assist gravity, if desired. The vacuum being now no longer needed in the conduit 76, it is opened to the atmosphere by a valve 89, which is engaged by afinger 90, extending from said gripper-bar, operating as the gripper-fingers descend. The cylinder and feed-box now move forward together, the sheets of paper all moving on the rollers 43; but the weight of all the other sheets of paper presses upon the lowermost sheet, the edge of which has been grasped by the gripper-fingers. To free said lowermost sheet from this weight, there is provided a lifter-separator 91, which slides in grooves 92 in the frame above the guideways 21, which separator moves in the opposite direction to the feed-box and its advancing edge passes beneath the superimpressed sheets and raises them from off the lowest sheet. It is for this reason that the front of the box is made to swing from the hinges 93. This separator is actuated in like manner as the feed-box and from the same shaft a8, but from the other end of said shaft, by a crank 94, pitman 95, segment 96, gear 97, shaft 98, spur-wheels 99, and racks 100 on the separator. The separator 91 carries rollers 111, upon which the sheets of paper roll as the feed-box moves over the separator. By this means the weight of the upper sheets is entirely removed from the lowest sheet, so that the latter can readily be taken by the cylinder, its edge being held by the gripper-fingers. At the proper place in the movement of the cylinder after the sheet has been printed these fingers are operated to release the sheet by means of wedges 101 engaging the stems 85, and the sheet is delivered from the press.

The mechanism here shown for raising and lowering the platen, which, however, forms no part of my present invention, consists of a short vertical shaft 104 in the bed, controlled by a spring 105 and having at its lower end an arm 106, engaged by a stationary projection 107 on the frame, the upper end of the shaft having a plurality of arms 108, carrying at their ends wedges 109, engaging wedges 110 depending from the bed. It is evident that the turning of the shaft 104 raises or lowers the platen.

I claim 1. In aprinting-press, a feed-box, aseparating-carriage having an advancing edge to be interposed between the lowest sheet and the superincumbent sheets and rollers behind said edge upon which said superincumbent sheets travel, a suction device for drawing down the lowest sheet of the pile, and means for moving said feed-box and separating-carriage toward each other, substantially as described.

2. In a printing-press, a suction-cylinder having suction-holes for the paper, and short rubber tubes in said holes projecting slightly above the surface of the cylinder, in combination with means for producing an exhaust in said cylinder, substantially as described.

3. A printing-press having a reciprocating rotary impression-cylinder with suction-holes in its periphery, a feed-box for holding the sheets of paper, means for moving the feedbox and cylinder in harmony so that the front edge of the paper in the feed-box is brought over the suction-holes, at the beginning of the reciprocation of the cylinder, means for exhau'sting the cylinder, means for moving the cylinder and feed-box in the same general direction of the machine from the position in which the front edge of the paper is brought over the suction-holes, means for guiding said cylinder and feed box in their movements whereby they are separated vertically while moving in the same general direction, a separator, and means for moving the separator in the opposite direction to the feed-box and between the bottom of the feed-box and the cylinder, substantially as described.

1. In a printing-press, in combination with the frame of the press, a feed-box movable over said frame, rollers revolving on a shaft in stationary bearings in said frame below said feed-box, the bottom of said feed-box being cut away at its front portion and the front edge of the rear portion of the box being cut away to form recesses to pass around said rollers as the box moves forward, in combination with means for taking the lower sheet from the feed-box, and means for raising the superincumbent sheets therefronti, substantially as described.

5. In a printing-press, in combination, a frame, a box moving longitudinally over said frame, the bottom of the box being cut away at its front portion, rollers on a shaft in stationary bearings over which rollers the box moves, the front edge of the rear portion of the bottom being cut away to form recesses, the front of the box being supported upon arms pivoted near the rear side of the box, whereby said front can swing upwardly, means for taking the lowest sheet from the box to the impression-cylinder, and means for raising the remaining sheets, substantially as described.

6. In a printing-press, in combination, a feed-box sliding in suitable guides, and having a rack secured thereto, a spur-gear engaging said rack and means for operating said spurgear comprising a segment-gear having a slotted arm a pitman connected with said arm and means for reciprocating said pitman, substan tially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD N. MILLS.

I/Vitnesses:

FRANoIs M. WRIGHT, BESSIE GORFINKEL.

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