US982256A - Sheet-feeding machine. - Google Patents

Description

P. L. (moss. v SHEET FEEDING MACHINE.

.APILIOAIION FILED APR. so, 1908.

Patented 'Jan. 24, I911.

wizeasaa AT T oEEcE.

[THANK L. cnoss or woLLAsToN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB. ocnoss PAP R FEEDER COMPANY,- A CORPORATION OF MAINE. 7

SHEET-FEEDING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. 'CRoss, a citizen of the United States, residing at, Wollaston, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet- Feeding Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of 'the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

A The invention relates to thatclass of paper feeding machines in which a bank of feathoperate properly upon the front of the bank uniform point.

of sheets in this class ofmachines and may properly'separate the individual sheets, the

bank of sheets should be so fed to the separating devices that the front edgeof the bank will be maintained at a substantially So long as the front edge of the bank of sheets is at this point or in advance of it, there should be no feed of the -bank, but as soon as the removal of successive sheets from the front of the bank carries the front'edge ofthe bank back of this point, there should be a feed of the bank, and the feed should continue untilthe front edge of the bank is brought up to the proper point.

It is the object of the present invention I to provide a new and improved mechanism for feeding the bank of feathered sheets which will automatically act to maintain the front edge of the bank at a substantially uniform point during the separation and removal of the indiv dual sheets from the front of the bank.

.In accordance with'one feature of the invention, the mechanism for feeding forward the bank of feathered sheets is automatically controlled to maintain the front edge of the bank at; a substantially uniform point by a controlling device which is arranged to be covered by the front of the bank when the bank is in proper position for the effective separation of the sheets, and to be uncovered when the front edge ofthe bank is back of the proper point, The controlling device,-

Specification of Letters Patent.

' table.

Application filed April 30, 1908. Serial No. 430,112.

andithe means by which it causes feeding" movements of the bank to be effected when uncovered, and prevents such'feeding move- Patented Jamar Q1911.

ments when covered, maybe of any suitable and desirable form and arrangement, and may be varied to suit theform ofconstruc tion of the sheet separating devices or of the other parts of the bank feeding mechanism with which they are combined.

While the invention may be embodied with advantage in machines provided with any of the various forms of sheet separating de- .vices, it is, in its preferred form, especially designed to meet the requirements of an efficient bank feed in machines in which combing rolls are employed as the sheet separatmg means.

The invention has accordingly 7 been illustrated as embodied in a machine A in which thesheet separating devices consist of combing rolls'operated and controlledby mechanism similar to the mechanism" illustrated and described in Patent No.

812,260, dated February 13, 1906.

The various features of the invention will be readily understood from an inspection of the accompanying drawing, in which'the fig-' lure is a side elevation partly in section showing a machine"similar' to that illustrated in the patent above referred to provided-with the present invention in its preferred-form.

As shown in the drawing, the bank of v feathered sheets is fed to the feed table 1 from a supply table 2, the front end of which is arranged over the rear end of the feed The bank of sheets passes from-thesupply table to the feed table through {a curved throat formed between the drum 3 f and curved guides 4. The bank'upon the supply table rests upon feed tapes 5 which I pass around the drum 8, and the bank of sheets upon the feed ta'ble. rests upon the feed tapes 6 which pass over the pulleys 7 and 8." The feed tapes 6 and drum 3 are operated at proper intervals to advance or feed forward the bank of feathered sheets through aratchet wheel 9 which is connected through suitable gearing 10 with the drum 3 and'pulley 7 over which the tapes 6 pass. vThe-ratchet wheel is operated by means of a feed pawl 11 pivoted to the upper end of a pawl carrying lever 12. The lower end of the pawl carrying lespring 15 which surrounds a rod 16 pivoted to the end of the lever 14', and mounted to slide through a. pin 17. The lever 14 is moved toward the right, or in a direction to retract the feed pawl 11, by means of a, crank pin 18 carried on the end of the cam shaft 19, and connected with the lever by a link 20. The link 20 is connected with the lever 14 through a slot 21 formed in the end of the lever and arranged to ride over a pin 22 carried by the lever. I I

' When the lever 14 is free to move toward the left, the pin 22 will bear against the lefthand end of the slot 21 as the link 20 is reciprocated by the rotation of the crank pin 18, and the lever 14 will be moved toward the left by the spring to give the feed pawl a feeding movement, and will be moved toward the right to retract the pawl by the engagement of the end of the slot 21 with the pin 22. If the movement of the lever 14 toward the left is prevented during the movement of the link toward the left, the link 20 will reciprocate idly back and forth, the slot 21 playing back and forth over the pin 22. If-the movement of the lever 14 towardthe left is arrested during the movementof the link 20 toward the left, the pin 22 will continue inengagement with the leftliand end of the slot 21 until the lever is arrested, and thereafter the link 20 will move idly toward the left. On the return stroke of the link 20 the left-hand end of the slot 21 will reengage the pin 22 and return the .lever '14 to its retracted position. The action of the bank feeding mechanism may there fore be prevented by preventing the movement of-the lever '14, or the feeding move- ,ni'ent of the bank may be arrested at any time during the vfeeding movement of the bank feeding mechanism, by arrestmg the movement of the lever '14. The movement of the lever 14 is prevented or arrested during the operation of the machine to secure 4 the proper feeding of the bank of sheets by controlling mechanism which will be hereinafter described. The sheets at the front end of the bank of sheets upon the feed table 1 2 are acted upon by two combing rolls, one of which; is i ndi'cated at 23. These rolls are 10- cated i saoni each side of the feed table, and

24 are'so located that the front edge of the sheet is brought between the delivery rolls 25 and 26 by the action of the combing rolls. The delivery rolls 25 are carried in arms 27, and are lowered immediately after the comb- "ing rolls are thrown out of action, so that the top sheet, which has been separated and fed forward by the combing rolls, is carried away by the deliveryrolls. After the top sheet has been thus removed, and the rear edge of the sheet has passed the delivery rolls, the roll 25 is raised, and the combing rolls are again thrown into action.

In order that the sheets may be properly separated by the combing rolls, and individual sheets presented to the delivery rolls, the front edge of the bank of sheets should be such a distance back of the trips 24 that the combing rolls will effect the proper separation of the sheets in advancing the top sheet into position to be seized by the delivery rolls. At the same time the front edge of the bank of sheets should not be so great a distance back of the trips 24 that the combing devices will not advance the top sheet sufficiently to bring it into position to be seized by the delivery rolls. The frontedge of the bank of sheets should therefore be maintained at a substantially fixed distance from the tripping devices 24, which distance will depend upon the separation effected by the combing rolls during the I time which they may remain in action.

In the construction shown, the action of the bank feeding mechanism is controlled to maintain the front edge of the bank at a substantially uniform distance from the tripping devices by controlling the feeding movements of the lever 14 through which feeding movements are imparted to the bank. The devices for controlling the feeding movement of the bank consist of a ratchet bar 28 and a pawl 29 adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the ratchet teeth on"the bar. One end of the ratchet bar is pivoted to the lower end of the lever 14, and the other end is supported in a block 30 which'is pivotally supported upon a rod 31. qThe pawl 29 is secured to a rock shaft 32 which is connected through an arm 33 and link 34 with one end of a lever 35. The lever 35 is pivoted below the 2 forward end of the feed table 1, and carries a controlling finger 36 which projects up through the feed table near its center. The weight of the parts is such that the lever 35 tends to swing into the position indicated in the-drawing, with the controlling finger projecting up above the surface of the feed table. lVith the partsin this-position, the

awl 29' is raised out of engagement withv the teeth of the. ratchet bar 28, so that the le ver 14 is free to move and to impart feeding movementsto the bank feeding mechanism.

"Guide fingers: 37 are provided, which over lie the front edge of the bank of sheets, and hold it down in position to depress the controlling finger 3G, and thus holdthe lever 35 in posit-ion to retain the pawl 29 in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet bar 28. When the pawl 29 is thus held in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet bar 28, movement of the lever 14 toward the left is prevented, and thus the action of the bank feeding mechanism is prevented or arrested.

When the front end of the bank of sheets covers the controlling finger 36, the controlling finger will be depressed and maintained in position to hold the pawl 29 in engagement. with the ratchet teeth on the bar 28, and thus prevent the action of. the bank feeding mechanism. When the removal of successive sheets from the front ofthe bank carries the front edge of the bank back of the controlling finger 36, so that the controlling finger is uncovered, the lever 35 will be free to swing into position to lift the pawl 29 and hold it above the ratchet teeth in the bar 28. The bank feeding mechanism will now advance the bank of sheets, until the front. edge, of the bank ridesover the controlling finger 36, thus covering and depressing the finger and swinging the pawl 29 into engagementwith the ratchet teeth on the bar 28. Whenever the front edge of the bank of sheets is behind the controlling finger 36, a forward feeding movement will therefore be imparted to the bank of sheets, and this movement, or successive feeding movements will continue until the front edge of the bank rides over the controlling finger, and thus arrests the feeding movement, or prevents subsequent feeding movements of the bank. 7

In order that the position of the front edge of the pawl may be adjusted in accordance with the character of the paper being operated upon by the combing rolls, the cont-rolling finger 36 is adjustably secured to the lever 35 by means of ascrew 38 passing through a slot formed in the base of the controlling finger.

Having set forth the nature and object of the invention, and specifically described one form of apparatus in which it may be embodied, what I claim is 1. A sheet feeding machine, having, in combination, sheet separating means, a controller for controlling the separating means by the sheet, mechanism for feeding a bank of feathered sheets, and a controlling device connected and arranged to render the feed ing mechanism inactive when covered by the front of the bank and to render the feeding mecl'ianism active when uncovered thereby, substantially as described.

2. A sheet feeding machine, having, in

combination, a con'ibing roll, a sheet 03-- erated controlling trip for throwing t e combing roll out of action, mechanism for feeding a bank of feathered sheets'to the combing roll, a controller mounted to extend across the front edge of the bank, and means rendered active upon the movement of the controller by the bank for arresting the feeding action of the bank feeding mechanism, substantially as described.

3. A sheet feeding machine, having, in combination, a combing roll, mechanism controlled by the" sheet for throwing the combing roll out of action, mechanism for feeding 'a bank of feathered sheets to the combing roll, a pawl and ratchet connected to control thefeeding movements of thefeeding mechanism, a controller, and connections for engaging the pawl with the ratchet when the controller is in engagement with the bank, substantially as described.

at. A sheet feeding machine, having, in combination, sheet separating means, a controller for controlling the separating means by the sheet, mechanism for feeding a bank of feathered sheets to the separating means, a' pawl and ratchet connected to control the feeding movements of the feeding mechanism, a second controller, and connections for engaging the pawl with the ratchet when the second controller is in engagement with the bank, substantially as described.

5. A- sheet feeding machine, having, in combination, a combing roll, mechanism controlled by the sheet for throwing the combing roll out of action, mechanism for feeding a bank of feathered sheets, and a controlling device connected and arranged to render the feeding mechanism inactive when covered by the front of the bank and to render the feeding mechanism active when uncovered thereby, substantially as described.

6. A sheet feeding machine, having, in combination, sheet separating means, mechanism for feeding a bank of feathered sheets, a ratchet connected to move with the feeding mechanism, a pawl for engaging and arresting the feeding movement of the ratchet, and acontroller cot'iperating with the front edge of the bank after the sheet acted on by the separating means has been removed to control the engagement of the pawl with the ratchet, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK L. oRoss. Witnesses ANNIE C. RICHARDSON, N. D. MCPHAIL.

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