USRE689E - Geoege p - Google Patents

Description

llNrT-nn STATES GEORGE P. GORDON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AUTOMATIC GRIPPER FOR CARRYING SHEETS OF PAPER IN PRINTING-PRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 20,874, dated July 13, 1858; Reissue No. 659, dated April 12,1859.

To all 'whom fit may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonen P. GoDoN,

of New York, in the county and State of New ence always denoting the same part in all the figures ot' the drawings.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view taken at the back of the machine or opposite where the person feeding the paper is to stand. This shows the guides to lay the sheet against and the grippers about to take the laid sheet, the platen with the spring-strips to hold the sheet up to the platen while the impression is being taken and until the form of types has relieved itself from the sheet. It also gives the relative positions ot' the distributing-cylinder, theinkingrollers, and the bed at the time one sheet is about to be received by one set of grippers and the second set of grippers is on its transit toward the place of depositing the sheet of paper after it is printed. These last named operations follow one after another in rapid succession as the gripper frame or arms revolve ontheir axis. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the front or feeding side of the machine, and shows the position of all the parts which may be seen from a plain front side view of the press the red lines AA,'B B, and O O showing where the sectional divisions take place, also showing (in red lines) the sheet in its progress toward being deposited on the pile-table, as will be more fully described hereinafter. Fig. 3 is a section outside of the frame, but inside of the gearing and cams, taken as marked, at thelineAAin Fig. 2 near the R side of the frame, showing the hollow cam for eontrollin g the strips to hold the sheetup to the platen, and the outside cam to raise the feed-board and allow it to fall at the proper time. rlhis also shows the crank from the main wheel to the shaft ofthe impressionworks through the connecting-rod, the dotted lines indicating the parts which would otherwise be hidden from view. Fig. 4 is a view from inside the R side of the frame, showing the position of the several parts from that point in sectional elevation, as indicated bythe letters of reference. Fig. 5 is a view of the interior of the press, taken at the line O O in Fig. 2, indicating the parts as per letters of reference inside the L side of the frame. Fig. 6 is a special section looking from the L side of the frame toward the said side of frame, showing the two segments of cog-wheels, as named by thel letters of reference. Fig. 7 is a section through the center of the press in full elevation, as taken at the line B B, Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a front View of the distributing-cylinders of the inking apparatus, showing their means of traveling one across opposite the other, so as to carry the ink from the center to the end and return, thus giving eXtra distribution to the ink.

The nature of my invention consists in, iirst, the providing afeed-board which, working upon its axis, will vibrate by rising so that the grippers of a revolving gripper-frame may pass underneath the feedboard said feed-board dropping down at the proper time to give the sheet of paper, which has been fed to the gage, to the gripper which has just now passed from under the feed-board, as here shown, reserving the privilege of changing' the arrangement of parts by some equivalent machinery, or in some change of forms or positions ofthe parts thereof; second, in providing a revolving frame of g-rippers, which alternately stops for the impression and revolves to carry the sheet to be printed, and thence to be delivered in a regularly-piled heap, not intending to confine myself to both these operations, as either of them will be just as Well performed separately. One or many sets of grippers may be used in this manner, but I give the preference to two sets, as here shown, the one to be at the impression and the other at the place of delivery or piling the sheet at the pile or fly board. The sheet is dropped just before the frame stops to allow an impression to be taken. This done, the frame of grippers moves on half a revolution, when one gripper occupies the position its predecessor had done, (that is, as shown in the model,) and so continuously onward, one following the other. The sheet of paper, when taken by the grippers from the feed-board, is held by the said grippers until it is desired they should release it, whether this be at the impression or to be' piled upon the pile or iiy board. y

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now describe its construction and operation.

I provide a revolving frame of grippers, or several sets of grippers, iiippers, or paperliolding fingers, constructed in some suitable forms to grip or impinge upon the sheet of paper and hold itiirmly until it is relieved by the grippers opening to drop and pile it upon the pileor iiy board at lthe proper time. The gripper takes the sheet of paper or card from the feed-board b and thence conveys it to the place of impression, where it ina-y rest until the impression is given. It is then, while yet held in the grippers, carried out from between the spring-strips or frislret and the platen, thence onward until it is over the pile or y board, when the grippers open and drop the sheets, one after the other, against the gage x", which from its position allows the sheet to fall against this ledge or gage, before named. Thus the sheets will be regularly piled, one directly on top of the other. One

ror many sets of grippers comprising one frame may thus be made to perform these ofces, one

set succeeding -the other, yet each meetingin turn thevariousparts for operating and receiving the various manipulations, so that the several sets of gri ppers will perform like ofiices in their regular turns and produce precisely the same results as though but one set of revolvi ng grippers had been used. rEhe grippers, one single set or many sets, are to always revolve upon their own independentaxis without regard to those parts of the machine which perforin the other manipulations not particularly pertaining to the sheet feeding and piling. 'lhe 'nase or axis of this frame of revolving grippers is the main shaft t, which being snugly' iitted to the fixed tube i" allows the said shaft t to ievolve within such tube in order that the shaft may perform its other duties. The tube r extends from the one side of the frame to the other, and is in one piece. The arms or side of the gripper-holding frame has its hub or projecting sides, and these hubs fit close to and revolve upon the before-nanied fixed tube. The gripper-holding arms or frame extend a proper length from the center of the main shaft t, so that all the sets of grippers which may be placed in a irame will hold correspondin g distance from the center of the main shaft. Upon each side of the platen is a corresponding arm or side of frame. I intend to use as many of these sets of grippers or arms as shall be found useful, be the same more or less. Near the outside or ends of these arms or frames is a brace extending from the one side of the frame to the other on the opposite side, and firmly connects the two arms or fram es together, thus forming a frame to carry the grippers, one pair of arms being necessary tocai-ry one set of grippers. The arms or frame for the grippers will be known as j', the coni .necting-rods as k, and the grippers as l.

These grippers have several parts connected with their opening and closing, which they meet in course of their revolution. In the drawings here presented two sets of grippers are shown. The sheet of paper being held in one, may be receiving the impression, while the other is at rest to receive the next or suc ceeding sheet. The gripper is made up of two parts, the lower one, l, being a straight bar across that part which covers the width of the sheet, oras far as the width of the platen is presented to it. It then cranks off to its journals. Upon one end is an arm, k, h iving attached to its side, near the end, a stud for a frictionless roller, kf. This works in the hollow cam in', as seen at Fig. 5, which governs, guides, and controls it in its several motions around the fly-board and the platen. This base piece l must be always held firm in its respective positions. The upper part or lingers, a', are fast upon a shaft, o', butare held in place by set-screws, so that the iingers may be moved upon their shaft to accommodate different size sheets of paper. The shaft o extends entirely across the press, one end projecting outside of the gripper-frame to receive the crank p', by which they are opened at the proper time. A spiral spring upon the shaft olv serves to close and keep closed the grippers during allthe time when they ar'e to be closed for the purpose ofcarrying the sheet of paper to its several positions until it is relieved bythe action lof the lever-cam q', which has its fixed point upon the side of the frame, as shown at Fig. 7, its opposite end being an elongated cam. An arm upon its side extends over the frame, so that a frictionless roller upon itsend will rest upon the outside cani,

r', the two cams r and q giving the crank p the requisite motion to open the grippers at the proper time to deliver one sheet and receive another.

To drive the revolving frame of gri ppers the following parts are used to perform their various manipulations: Uutside the L side of the press a connecting rod, s', is at one end inade- .necting'rod, and thence to the crank w', causes the shaft fu to rock or vibrate backward and forward, giving like motion to the segment w. A second segment, y', (see Fig. 6,) is geared with the segment w', and by alpawl, z', held in place by the spring 0"', and by means of teeth, pushes the frame of grippers around to its proper place of rest. rlhe segment y is loose upon its central bearing, being the tube r, so that it may freely revolve upon the outside of the said tube. Thus at the proper time the pawl acts upon the teeth and pushes the frame of grippers around the required distance, and then while the gripper-frame is at rest allows the return motion of the segment ze' to peat the same operation, and so on continuously.

For the purpose of holding the grippcrs and gripper frame perfectly rm at their stationary point-viz., the receiving the impression at one vpoint and a sheet at another-a fixture, d", is affixed on the L side of the press, an opening or openings are madein the side of the-revolving gripper-frame c", and a barrel or tube, f", has within it a piston, around which is a spiral spring. This piston is operated upon by the cam g to force it into the opening in the side of the gripper-frame, wl1icl1,wheni'orced home, must. tit it snugly, (this is e,) an'i is to hold the frame until it is to be relieved, when the cam -allows the spring to withdraw the piston and allows the gripper-frame to advance until the manner. The motions and stops of the revolving frame of grippers continue alternately. To keep the sheet up to the platen, I provide spring-strips extending across the platen-face. These are fast with a rock-shaft, h, the strip being i". A crank upon the end ofthe shaft h" is made to operate in the cam k, which causes the strips to be lowered out ot" the way when the sets of grippers are to pass, and to bring them up to the sheet and the platen at the proper time to hold the sheet in place. A frisket may be used instead of the springstrips if desired, the same being properly constructed to meet the other parts in proper time. The feed-board is made to rise and fall, so that its back end may go down to give the sheet to the grippers, and then to rise out of the way for the revolving grippers. so that they may pass underneath it. The iiy or pile board has no peenliarity except what is herein stated. Its position is readily understood by reference to Fig. 7 where the sheets ofA paper (red lines) are seen upon the board which has a gage-piece at or near its lower edge, with a set-screw to slide it up to meet sheets of different szes. (See w" in drawings.) Should it be found .necessary this tly board always remains stationary when the machine is in operation, as here shown; but it may receive motion, if desired, by any common contrivance. A shaft, cm, extends across thema chine, and this is hinged to the board b. From the side of this board, extendingoverthe frame, is an arm, of, having a frictionless roller, df, arran ged to run over the raised or outside cam e upon the back side of the main Wheel and near the R side of the frame. This cam will be fully seen at Fig. 3. lts office is to raise and lower the back end of the feed-board at the proper time, so that which has been properly placed against the gage j is carried down so that it may be received by the grippers. rIhe gagef is hin ged to the sides ofthe feed-board, its front having uponit several points or brackets, which, when thefeed-board is up, fall below the edge of the feed-board. At this time the sheet is to be placed against the gage. Upon bring back the segmenty,when itis ready to rel 'next set of grippers is operated upon in like the side of the gage an arm, g', extending over the L side ot' the press or frame. where a stationary stud, It', is placed to limit the distance the gage may fall, so that the end of the feed board may go down and deliver the sheet to the grippers underneath the gagepoints t. It will thus be seen that at the delivery of each sheet the feed-board comes up and goes down, tirst to receive the sheet properly against the gages, and the last to carry it to the grippers without the sheet changing its position until taken by the grippers.

I'have here shown two sets of grippers, but intend to use any number of sets, arranging the stops according to the number' of such. sets which it may be found useful to apply. As arranged here, the frame of grippers re' volves around the platen, which is stationary.

I do not intend vto conne'myself to the particular arrangements as shown, for many equivalents can be suggested to till like ot'- fices, as do most ot' the parts of this machine. For instance, the bed might be stationary, so that the frame of grippers would revolve around this instead of the platen ora cylinder or segment of a cylinder might be so placed as to serve in the place of either bed or piaten, or both of them. Other forms or shapes may therefore be adopted, so as to allow the frame of revolving grippers. The same beingindependent of the other parts of the machine, may revolve so as to come to the plat e of receiving the sheet to be conveyed to some proper destination, viz: rEhe sets may merely take the sheet to the place of impression, While the next set or so me succeeding one will receive it and carry it to the place of deposit or piling;

Again, the set of revolving grippers may take the sheet from the place of impression to the place of piling, as either or any ot' these operations separately may be equally well performed as it' the whole were used in combination, or some parts of them.

l deem it to be wholly unimportant what machinery may be used for inhing or the impression, but intend to use my sets of independent revolving grippers to taire the sheets of paper and carry them to a given place, especially to a place for allowing the sheets to fallin an even pile, one on top of the other, as they are relieved from the grippers by the grippers themselves when they open for this purpose. It is quite immaterial whether the revolving nippers or grippers move continuously or whether I give them an intermittent motion.

Although in the plan I have presented for using these grippers they perform a greater amount ot' manipulations or duty than simply piling` the sheet, I have adopted the intermitl tent motion 3 but when used for piling alone they may receive a continuous or progressive onward movement, and one or more sets, as may be deemed best, may be used, the main object being to take and pile the sheets by means of revolving grippers, which may act independent ot' the other parts of the machine,

and this without regard to the time, place, or manner in which the sheet muy be fed or supplied to such grippers, intending to use either ofthe plans described or their equivalents.

Operation: A sheet being fed or placed against the gage or guide7 the press being in position, as shown at Fig. 1, the grippers being now ready to receive the sheet, the feedboztrd Will lower on moving the press and present the sheet to the grippers, which iinniediately close upon the sheet, holding it rmly, and then in their onward -inoveinent carry the sheet to the platen. On its arrival at that point the spring-strips or i'risliet presses it iirinly up to the face ofthe platen. The sheet having received its impression and been relieved from the form, es Well as from the spring strips or i'risliet, is by the next move of the grippers conveyed to its place of deposit, wherefit is dropped upon the pile or iiy board. f j Having thus fully described my invention, hat l claim as newr isn l. One or more seis of grippers, nippers, or

fingers to revolve independent in themselves' upon an axis, i'or the purpose of carrying the sheets of paperto the place otl impression, or i'or carrying the sheet after it has received the impression to its place ot' deposit upon the pile-board or ily-board, or for either or both ot' these purposes, thus receiving and piling the sheets of paper in an even and regular heap by the acts of my automatic grippers or independent revolving nippers or their equivalents.

2. The combination of the independent revolving grippers. with the vibrating feed-board or its equivalent.

3. The combination ot the independent revolving grippers with a pile or iiy board, to

be used as described. or in some equivalent Way.

4. The combination of the independent revolving grippers with a feed-board, and tt pile or iiy board or their equivalents, substantially as herein described and set forth.

GEO. P. GORDON. Witnesses:

J. L. KINGSLEY, A. TURNER.

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