Patent GB-846179-A (GB)
Title: Multiple station book pressing and creasing machine
IPC: B42C13/00
Filed: 1958-06-16
Abstract: 846,179. Bookbinding. CRAWLEY MACHINERY CO. Inc. June 16, 1958 [June 17, 1957], No. 19175/58. Class 16. Book fillers assembled in covers with wet adhesiveapplied to the meeting surfaces are fed by hand or by a conveyer into a machine which presses the side covers on to the fillers, and creases the covers adjacent the rounded spines, the machine comprising a number of opposed pairs of presser elements between which the books are passed, and a number of pairs of creaser elements which are mounted on a carriage, these creaser elements being used to feed the books from the loading to the delivery end of the machine, and so that each book is subjected to pressing and creasing by each pair of presser and creaser elements. The creaser and presser elements may be heated electrically. The carriage, and one element of each pair of presser and creaser elements, are operated automatically by hydraulic pistons in a hydraulicelectric system wherein control of the electric switches and relays is effected mainly by back pressure built up in the hydraulic system. As shown, books with their spines resting on an endless conveyer belt 12, Figs. 2 and 16, driven by a motor 11 are fed along a longitudinal passageway to a feed control mechanism 13 which has two stop fingers 73, 74 actuated by a feed carraige 17 when it moves to the extreme right to take a book from the loading station: these fingers control the feed of the books so that there is always one B, Fig. 16, abutting spring-urged stops 75, and one between the plungers 34 of loading nippers 33. There are six pressing stations each comprising a presser plate 18 movable transversely of the book passageway by a hydraulic piston in a cylinder block 26, and a common stationary and adjustable presser plate 21. These are also five pairs of creaser jaws 20, 22, Fig. 3, arranged on the carriage 17, the jaws 20 each being movable relatively to the jaws 22 by hydraulic pistons in cylinders 28. All the jaws 22 can be adjusted simultaneously, and the presser plate 21 can also be adjusted to suit different sizes of books, by crank-operated sprocket-and-chain means. In the loading position shown in Fig. 16. the pairs of creasers and pressers are in vertical alignment with the creasers closed and the pressers open. The loading nippers 33 are attached to the first set of creasers. When the carriage 17 is moved to the left, the first book B is withdrawn past the spring fingers 75 by the plungers 34 of the nippers 33, and transferred to a support plate 32 : in this position the first set of creasers is below the second set of pressers 18, and the last set of creasers is immediately above a book-delivery shoot 16, Figs. 2 and 3. The pressers 18 now close, the creaser jaws 20, 22 open, and the carriage 17 returns to loading position. On the next carriage movement to the left, the nippers 33 move the first book forward so that, when the carriage returns, the first set of creasers can engage it and subsequently feed it, in steps, between each pair of pressers 18 and then release it over the shoot 16. Thus the books are alternately pressed and creased. The stop fingers 73, 74 are operated by a rod 76 which is moved axially against a spring by an abutment 77 on the loading nippers 33. The carriage 17 is secured to a hydraulic piston in a cylinder 30, and its stroke is controlled by a limit switch 36, Fig. 3, having an arm 37 actuated by a pair of stops such as 39, on the carriage. The carriage comprises longitudinal tubular bars 125, 126, 127 which are cross-braced and guided by rollers mounted on fixed brackets 133. Each set of creaser jaws 20, 22 is mounted on two cross-shafts 152 mounted on the carriage 17, the jaws 22 having screw-thread engagement with the shafts which are all coupled together for rotation by sprocket-and-chain means for adjustment purposes. The jaws 20 are slidable along the shafts by the hydraulic pistons in cylinders 28, and the arrangement is such that the pressure developed by the creasers in action is not transmitted to the spaced bars 126, 127 of the carriage 17. The jaws 20, 22 have replaceable anvils retained by spring clips. The machine includes a hydraulic pump 40 driven by a motor 41, a liquid reservoir 43, and a control unit 46 incorporating electrically-operated valves. In the operation of each cycle, with the pressers 18 open, the presser pistons engage positive stops which cause a back pressure to be developed in the presser cylinder block 26. This back pressure moves a first pressureresponsive switch to cause the creaser jaws to close, and back pressure subsequently built up in the cylinders 28 of the creasers causes a second pressureresponsive switch to be tripped to allow direct fluid pressure to drive the carriage 17. The carriage trips the limit switch 36 to allow direct pressure to the cylinder block 26 to close the pressers 18 : after a predetermined pressure is reached, the back pressure in the block trips a third pressure-responsive switch to cause the creaser jaws to be opened. Later, back pressure developed in the cylinders 28 causes a fourth switch to be tripped and the carriage to be moved back to loading position. The moving carriage again trips the switch 36 which causes the creasers to be closed, and the pressers 18 to be opened. In a modification, the conveyer belt 12 is omitted and the books are fed into the machine by hand. Also, there are only three sets of pressers and creasers.