Patent GB-190325363-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Tag-stringing Machines.
Inventor: SUCK FREDERICK AUGUSTUS
Filed: 1903-11-20
Granted: 1904-02-25
Abstract: 25,363. Suck, F. A. Nov. 24, A.D. 1902, [date applied for under Patents Act, A.D 1901]. Labels, making. Relates to a machine for providing eyeleted tags (labels) with doubled strings the ends of which are free for tying purposes, the apparatus being capable of accommodation to all sizes of tags, and of varying the lengths of loose string. The string s, Fig. 30, is doubled and threaded through the label eye by means of an inserter n, the string below the tag is raised by spreaders into the position shown, then cut at the point c, the free ends being next pulled through the spread loop and the finished tag dropped on to a delivery belt. All the mechanism. is worked from the main shaft 41, gearing by similar bevel-wheels with the vertical shaft 49, Fig. 2, the whole cycle of operations being performed during one revolution of either shaft. The tags are placed in the hopper 54. with their reinforced eyes uppermost, and are fed by means of a weight-actuated block 55 sliding in a groove in the base of the hopper, on to a sliding bar 62, Fig. 19, working in a groove in the fixed table 50, and provided with a front-recessed and forked portion to receive the thickened portion of the tag, which is then taken into a position for the insertion of the string needle. The sliding bar 62 has an adjustable screw connection with a slotted plate beneath the table 50, having a pin connection with a slotted arm 66, pivoted to the table, and connected to a lever 69, provided with a pin working into a groove on a cam-plate 73 fixed to the shaft 49, and pivoted at the point 70 to the standard 40. The string needle 84, Figs. 1 and 2, with a notched end and grooved on its opposite sides for the reception of the string, reciprocates vertically with a crosshead 87, and is connected by double links to a lever 89, with adjustable fulcrums and worked by a rod 91, with its pin end moving in the cylinder cam 94, mounted at the upper end of the shaft 49. The string, on a spool 98, passes through an eyehole 97 in the stand 82, thence over a pulley at the end of the lever 89, and finally through a guide-hole 99 in the stand 82, Figs. 5 and 1, which is screw clamped in any position on the standard 40. A spring clamp 101, consisting of a pair of movable jaws, serves to prevent upward movement of the string, the direction of which is adjusted by the aid of a block 104 with a tapered guide-eye, and screw-movable in a dovetailed recess, beneath which moves a sliding plate 105, acted upon through the arm 107, by a cam-wheel 110, secured to a sleeve 112, which also carries cam-wheels 117, 146. Pivotally connected to the slide plate 105 are two nippers which are separately and similarly actuated from the cam-plate 117, by the arm 116 and levers 115, and which serve to grip the loose end of the string until the position shown in Fig. 30 has been realised, when the string is cut at the point c by a pair of shears pivoted at 141 to a fixed plate 142, and actuated by the camwheel 146. Before the above cutting operation is performed, and after the needle and doubled string have been carried down through the table 50, the string is opened out by means of the spreader arms 122, Figs. 1, 2, and 13. The latter are fixed on a rock-shaft 118, with pinion 124 engaging a rack 125 reciprocated by the cam-plate 73, Fig. 19. The spreader arms 122 are provided with roller shoulders engaging in slotted guides 123, Fig. 13, so formed that in their lowest position the two spreader arms are together but diverge to a wide angle as they move above the table 50. The ends of the spreader arms fit between the string and the recessed needle and are provided with spring fingers, the outer free ends of which are bent outwardly to facilitate the entry of the string therein ; the latter requirement is further realised by the entry of the needle at its lowest point into a recess 139 with projections 136, formed in an arm 137, attached to the standard bracket 53. The string is next cut as above described, and, in order to draw the loop tant, a gripping-carriage 148, Fig. 19, reciprocating in a slot 149 at the edge of table 50, Fig. 13, is worked from the main shaft 41, Figs. 1 and 19, by means of a crank wheel 43, pitman 44, and lever 45 connected to a link 147, to which the carriage is bolted. The gripper comprises arms 154 pivoted on the carriage 148, and provided with links attached one on either side of a lever 157, also pivoted to the carriage, and having a pin 160 provided at its end. Normally, the grippers are kept closed by means of a spring acting thereupon. Two plates 161 are mounted upon the table 50, each having a lever switch cam (shown in dotted lines) mounted on its underside kept with its longer arm upon the edge of the table 50 by the aid of springs. By the action of the switch cams on the pin 160, the grippers are made to open when near the ends of their reciprocations, first opening to grip the string on the right and releasing it on the left; in the latter case the tag drops through an opening in the table 50 on to the conveyer. The conveyer has the purpose of gathering the stringed tags into bunches of a predetermined number and comprises an endless band 172, Fig. 1 and 2, provided with pins or rolls 173 and supported on drums 174, which are furnished with longitudinal grooves gearing with ribs fixed across the underside of the belt. The shaft of one of the drums is extended, and has secured to it a ratchet 179. Loose on the same shaft is a compound ratchet of two member'. with an oscillating bar 186 carrying two pawls and a detent, the bar being worked from the main shaft 49 by intermediate links, the last of which has a pin working into a groove in the cam-plate 196, on the shaft 49, thus advancing the partitions out of reach when the required number of tags have been collected. To adjust the instrument for different thicknesses of tags, and to deliver only one tag from the hopper at a time, the tag passes beneath an upright 75, Figs. 1, 13, and 19, cut away at the bottom and having adjustable stops 77, formed with screwed stems 78, with screw nuts 79 and fixed cover-plate 80. Springs inserted in the stops 77 allow the size of the opening to be adjusted by means of the screws 79. To fix the tags on the plate 62 while being threaded, and to release the same during removal by the grippers, they are pressed upon by arms with adjustable discs 170 screwed thereon and secured by a rockshaft 165, upon which a spring is coiled to keep the discs fixed in the forward end of the tag, when the latter has its hole under the needle. On the same rock-shaft is fixed an arm provided with a pin 168 at its end, the pin being raised by a cam 153, attached to the above-mentioned gripper carriage 148 on the latter arriving nearly at the extreme right of its reciprooation, by which means the tag is released into the embrace of the grippers 154.