US873848A - Sheet-feeding apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

o. 873,848. PATENTED DEC. 17, 1907.

A. B. DICK. SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28, 1907- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEY PATENTED DEG. 1'7, 1907.

A. B. DICK. SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28,1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR similar material to such a machine reliably and at substantial speed.

,upon the surface whereof is placed a waxed pression sheet the imprinting from the paper under the rotary drum and against a UNITED STATES- PA onsron.

ALBERT B. DICK, OF LAKE FOREST/ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR- TO A. B. DICK COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SHEET-FEEDING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT B. DIoK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lake Forest, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in SheetFeeding Apparatus, of which the following is a s ecification.

This invention is designe particularly for use in connection with printing machines and the like, and has for its object the provision of a simple and durable mechanism for successively feeding sheets of paper or Although not limited thereto, the invention is especially ada ted for use in connection with stencil-prlnting machines of the rotary type, in which is employed a drum,

stencil-sheet having openings therein cor-- responding to type characters. A printing machine of this type is illustrated in Letters Patent No. 749,984, granted to me January 19, 1904. In machines of this ty e heretofore commonly employed, it has een customary to feed the sheets of impression suitable paper-stop. Due to the rotation of the drum, such sheet is, when being imprinted uipon, grip ed between the periphery of the rum and that of an underlying pressure-roller and fed from the machine as the sheet is imprinted upon through the stencil. Among the objections due to 'this method of operation, is that the impression sheet is commonly at rest until its feeding movement is commenced b reason of the impingement of the stenci sheet thereon. Due to this, not only is anobjectionable strain thrown upon the delicate stencilsheet, but in addition the first line or lines of the stencil are apt to be blurred. More over, in certain of the machines of the type referred to, it is a matter of some difliculty to determine at what point upon the imstencil is to be commenced. Again, due to the necessity for accurately locating the forward edge of the impression sheet beneath the drum, so that the same may be cry of such drum and that of the un orlying pressure-roller, the operation of feed- Patented Dec.:17, 1907.

ing the sheets is necessarily time-consuming, permitting. the production of Iewer prints within a given time than are now considered desirable.

In the preferred form in which the present invention has been embodied, I employ a stencil duplicating machine of the type above referred to, including the rotary drum and the underlying pressure-roller adapted to coact therewith in the production of stencil printed copies, In conjunction with such drum and roller, I provide an initialfeed device actuated by a moving art of the apparatus, such, for example, as t e stencilcarryin drum or one of the gears by means whereo suchdrumis operated. Thisfeed device is of the intermittent variety and the actuating mechanism therefor is of such character as that the moment at which said device is set in operation maybe nicely determined with reference to the movement of the stencil-printing drum and therefore of the stencil-sheet carried by such drum. Moreover, such device is of such character as 'to feed the impression sheet forward at practically the same speed as the surface speed of the stencilcarryin drum; in other words, the surface speed 0 the impression sheet and that of the stencil-sheet are substantially the same. Said device comprises essentially a pair of feed-rolls and means controlled by a moving part of the duplicator, such as the stencil-carrying drum, as above indicated, for intermittently operating said rolls so as to feed the impression sheets successively forward to a point where the same may be gripped between the periphery of the stencil-carrying drum and .that of the pressure-roller and thence fed from the machine and simultaneously imprinted upon. At the moment that the portion of the stencil upon which has been cut "the first line of the matter to be duplicated comes into contact with the impression sheet, both the stencil-sheet and the impression sheet are traveling at the same speed, thereby removin the possibility of blurring, which as hereto ore proved objectionable as above stated; Again, since the means for advancing the impression sheet, to wit, the feed-rolls, are governed as to their effective operation by means ofa connection with a moving part of the apparatus, such as the stencil-carrying drum, and since such connection is capable of ready adjustment by the operator, the point upon the impression sheet where it is desired to commence the printed characters may be readily determined and theneeforth be substantially independent of the opefator and the precise moment at which the sheets are presented to the feed devicei Due, also, to such means for adjustment, the point at which the matter cut in the stencil is to be re 'roduced upon the stencil-sheet may readily e determined and provided for, quite regardless of the position upon the stencil-sheet of the type characters formed therein. Such a preferred embodiment of the invention as that above referred to is indicated in the drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section on the line, 11, Fig. 2, illustrating the invention in connection with a stencil-duplicator; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan on the line 2 Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrow adjacent to said line; and Fig. 3 isa section on the line 3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow adjacent to said line.

Referring to these drawings, A indicates the base of the machine, upon which is supported a suitable frame comprising, usually, side members B, between which is pivoted, upon stub-shafts c, the stencil-carrying drum (3 upon the peri hery whereof the stencilsheet is stretched Directly underl ing the stencil-carrying drum and operaterf by peripheral contact with the drum or the 1ntervening impression-sheet, is the pressureroller D, here shown as journaled, at d, upon arms E hinged at e to the side members of the frame. A spring F tends to exert upward pressure upon said pressure-roller. 40 Cams f, mounted upon a shaft f actuated by a hand-piece outside the frame of the machine, operate, when said hand piece is moved to one or the other of its two positions, to move the pressure-roller D to operative or inoperative position, the former of which positions is illustrated in Fig. 1. The mechanism as thus far described forms no part of the present invention.

Turning now to the sheet-feeding apparatus, G, H; designate sheetsfeeding rolls, one .above the other, each'mounted upon a shaft g, h, the ends whereof are mounted in supports I, I, on either side of the machine and adjacent to the side members B of the frame thereof. The roll G is here shown as formed in sections G, G, such sections being mount-- ed upon a sleeve g carried by said shaft 9. Said sleeve is loosely mounted upon said shaft and is provided at one end with the pinion g, which engages with a correspond-' mg pinion 72. upon the end of the roll H. That end of the sleeve g opposite the end at which said pinion g is arranged, is provided with a clutch-member g enacting with a similar clutch-member g, which, with the crests pinion 9 secured thereto, are lsdyed or pinned to the shaft g. A spring g ten s to force the sleeve 9 toward the left (Fig. 2), and therefore to maintain the parts g, g in contact. The pinion g- -meshes with a corresponding pinion L carried by a stub-shaft secured to the support I. Said stub-shaft also carries, adjacent to said pinionL, a friction-sheave Z, this being immovable relatively to said pinion L. It is apparent that movement transmitted to the friction-sheave I will, through the pinions L and g transmit corresponding movement to the,shaft g, and. thence throu h )inions 9 h to the shaft h, to which t e lower feed-roll H is secured.

For the purpose of the present disclosure, and as indicat ng merely. a preferred form, I have-here shown the feed-roll-aetuating device as carried by the drum C. It com prises a sector M )ivoted upon one of the stub-shafts c and having a serrated edge m adapted to coact with the surface of the friction-sheave I, said friction-sheave having preferably a periphery of yielding material, such as rubber, felt, or leather. Said sector is also provided with an elongated slot m through which extends a screw m the end of which is received in a suitably threaded orifiee in the adjacent head of the drum.

In Fig. l, the drum is shown as provided with two stencil-securing devices, one, N, (in dotted lines) for the forward edge of the stencil, and another, N, for the rear edge of the stencil. It is apparent that there will be no coaction between 'the stencil-carrying drum and the sheet-feeding device save at v such time during the movement of said drum as the serrated edge of the sector M isbrought into contact with the eri hery of the roll 1, and since such sector lsa justable on said drum, the moment of coaction may readily be predetermined and provided for (by, moving the seetor'relatively to the drum and then clamping it) ,so as to determine,

with reference-to the moment when the first line of the stencil will-reach printing osition (over the center of'the ressure-rolfdr), the moment at which the re ls G andH will be set in operation to feed the forward edge of the impression sheet forward and into the gri of the pressure-rollerand drum. The ad ustment of the sector, therefore, will determine at what point upon the impression sheet the stencil characters are to be produced. It will also be ap arent that, due to the construction describe and since the im: pression sheet is advanced by the feeding device at the same rate of s eed as that at which the stencil-sheet trave s, not only does the impression sheet impose. no drag upon the stencil-sheet in order to continue the movement of the former through the machine, but also, as incident of this, there is no relative movement of, the stencil-sheet and impression sheet and therefore no tendency 130 face of the impression-sheet.

P designates a feed-table, upon which the sheet-pile p may be laid, said table being provided, as usual, with adjustable guides p for positioning such pile. In the present instance, the feed-table is shown as pivoted to the frame at 12 Between such feed-table and the stencil-drum, I prefer to employ a plate Q secured at its ends to the frame of the machine and provided with a longitudinal slot g directly over the roll H, said roll operating within such slot, its periphery being on a line with or slightly above the upper surface of said plate. I also prefer to employ in connection with saidplate a sheet-guide R, here shown as secured to the supports I, I, and arranged obliquely to form a wedgeshaped opening into which the sheets may be passed to the rolls G, H. Said uide-plate R is here shown as provided with ers 1' coextensive in size with the sections 5} of the upper feed-roll G and terminating immedi- L ately below and slightly rearward of said sec- The operation of the apparatus has heretofore been explained. It remains only to add that while in the preferred form in which the invention may be embodied the feeding device is so arranged as to forward the impression-sheets at the same speed as that at which the stencil on the rotary drum moves, yet if for any reason the stencil should be found to travel faster than the rate at which the impression-sheet is fed, the coaction of the drum and the underlying pressure-roller will pass the sheet through the machine without drag upon such sheet by the feed-rolls G, H, this being due to the ratchet or clutch 9 g, heretofore described, which permits the roll G (and therefore the roll H in mesh therewith) to be operated not only by the sector M and. sheave Z but also by the pull of the 'impression-sheet.

In the preferred apparatus here described, the sector M is mounted upon the drum rather than upon another moving part of the apparatus, such, for example, as one of the gears by means of which the drum may be operated, for the purpose of making the machine more compact andiconducing to the ease with which said sector may be adjusted for the purpose hereinbefore referred to. It will also be understood, as above indicated, that-it is not designed to limit the use of the feed apparatus herein described to a stencil-, duplicating machine, as the same may be employed to advantage in machines of another and different type, particularly such as employ a type-form and platen (the latter either rotary or reciprocating) for effecting the imprints upon the impression-sheets.

Having now described my invention, what I cl aim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is'as follows 1. The combination with a printing-drumand an underlying pressure-roller, of two feed-rolls in vertical alinement and injuxtaposition to the point of coaction of said drum and roller, saidrolls being connected for simultaneous operation to feed an impressionsheet direct to said drum and roller. and at substantially the same speed as that of said drum and roller, a friction-sheave connected with one of said rolls, a clutch between the rolls and said sheave, and an adjustable sector carried by a moving part of the apparatus and having a curved periphery cooperating intermittently with said sheave, substantially, as described.

2. The combination with a printing-drum and an underlying pressure-r0 er, of a sector pivoted upon and movable-with said drum and having an elongated slot concentric with its pivot, and sector-securing means cooperating with said slot and said drum, feed-rolls mounted in fixed bearings and connected for simultaneous operation, and means intermediate of said feed-rolls and'said sector, and

cooperating with both, whereby the movement of said sector simultaneously with said drum will transmit corresponding, but intermittent, feeding movement to said feed-rolls, substantially as described 3. The combination with two feed-rolls, connected for simultaneous operation, one of said rolls having a plurality of separated rollsections, and means for imparting movement to said rolls, of a plate having an opening therein through which the periphery of one ofsaid rolls protrudes, and a guide located over said plate and at an angle thereto, said guide having fingers along one edge thereof terminating adjacent to the point of coaction of said rolls-,and in juxtaposition to said sec tions upon one of said rolls, substantially as set forth.

4:. The combination with a printing-drum and a cooperating pressure-roller, of two feed-rolls in juxtaposition to the point of coaction of the drum and roller, gearing between said rolls, a friction-sheave, a connection between said sheave and oneof said rolls whereby the sheave drives the rolls, a clutch in said connection, and an adjustable sector carried by said drum and having a curved periphery cooperating intermittently with said sheave, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a and a cooperating pressure-r01 er, of a sector pivoted upon and movable with the drum and having an elongated slot concentric with its ivot, sector securing means cooperating wit said slot and said drum, a pair of feedrolls, gearing between said rolls, a frictionprinting-dr'um I sheave mounted in position to cooperate with This specification signed and witnessm sail secgonfii colilnecgionloetween said shaafie this 25th day of May,- 1907. i

an sai r0 s W ere y t e movement 0 t e sector simultaneously with said drum trans- I ALBERT DICK mits correspondin but intermittent feeding Witnesses:

movement to the eed-rolls and a clutch in 1 R. R HARRINGTON --sa1d connection, substantiaily as described- M. H. BURKART.

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