Patent GB-805821-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to a printing machine
IPC: B41L45/00
Filed: 1955-10-19
Abstract: 805,821. Addressing machines. ADDRESSOGRAPH - MULTIGRAPH CORPORATION. Oct 19, 1955 [Oct. 29, 1954], No. 29830/55. Class 100(2) A printing machine wherein instrumentalities bearing data that may be printed and data identifying the instrumentalities as being of at least two different orders are to be passed in prearranged sequence through the machine, comprises a sensing station whereat the order of each instrumentality is determined from the identifying data thereat, a collector to which the instrumentalities are each passed from the sensing station and arranged by order, a conveyer means for instrusmentalities of the first and second order, means to pass instrumentalities of the first and second order from the collector to the conveyer means upon the passage of an instrumentalitiy of the first order to the selector, means enabling only those instrumentalities of the first order in the conveyer means to be printed from, and means to discharge instrumentalities of the first and second order from the conveyer means in the original sequence. General arrangement: The machine includes a lower set of reels 100 (Fig. 1) adapted to feed copy strip MS to be printed past a printing head PH and an upper set of reels 101 adapted to feed a strip of carbon paper CS past the head PH in registry with an advancing address strip. The machine uses the facsimile method of reproduction and is controlled by punched cards bearing addresses to be printed. The cards are fed singly from a magazine SM (Fig. 1A) to a sensing head SH (Fig. 5) where their order is determined i.e. whether they are "print", "skip" or "expire" cards. Depending on their order they are fed to one of three levels of a collector 570 which is adapted only when a "print" card is sensed to move first to the left as viewed in Fig. 21 so as to feed the "print card" along the top path of a transporter 750 so that it passes under a scanning unit SC which transmits the image to the head PH, and to feed all the "skip" cards which have accumulated in the collector 570 since the preceding "print" card along a lower part of the conveyer. Both orders of cards are discharged into a receiver 757. The collector 570 then moves to right as viewed in Fig. 21 to discharge the "expire" cards into a receiver 905. Feeding printing and control devices to the sensing station: The machine is driven by a motor M-2 which through gearing drives continuously a main drive shaft 210 (Fig. 21). The shaft 210 drives through gearing and one revolution clutches 650 and 220, shafts 655 and 230 respectively. The shaft 230 drives through gears 235, 239 a shaft 240-which in turn drives a shaft 247 (Fig. 5) on which is fixed a collar 260. Pivoted eccentrically on the collar 260 is a link 265 which is pivoted to a link 262 fast on a shaft 259 which is thereby rocked when shaft 247 rotates. Clamped to the shaft 259 is an arm 270 (Fig. 7) which is pivoted at its other end to feed-dogs 275 which run in grooves in the bottom of the magazine SM. The feed dogs 275 are adapted to engage the edge of the last card in the magazine and feed it, over guides 291, between the bite of feed rollers 310 which feed the card along a table 177. The.upper rollers 310 are mounted on a shaft 330 (Fig. 21) driven through gearing from the shaft 240. The lower rollers 310 are resiliently mounted for frictional co-operation with the upper rollers. Sensing mechanism: To enable the card to be positioned properly for sensing, a pair of positioning dogs 360 (Fig. 6) are provided which co-operate with a stop bar 359 in holding the card. The dogs 360 are pivoted at 365 to arms 366 attached at their lower ends to a rock shaft 367 to which is fixed a bell-crank lever 375 carrying cam followers 376 and 377 which co-operate with cams 373 and 374 on the shaft 240 so that the shaft 367 is rocked and the dogs moved into and out of operative position. The bar 359 is oeprated by a pair of fingers 390 mounted on a rock shaft 391 which is rocked by means of a vertical link 397 pivotally connected to a link 400 in turn connected to a link 403. The link carries a cam follower 410 on the shaft 240. The dogs 360 and stop-bar 359 are operated-in timed relation to the feeding of the card. When the card is properly positioned a sensing head SM (Fig. 5) is lowered so as to sense the data on the card. To this end the head is provided with a plurality of pins which co-operate with a set of electrical contacts below the card in the positions where the card is perforated. The head is mounted for vertical movement in a pivoted frame which is provided with cam followers which co-operate with cams on a shaft 326 so that the frame is moved up and down. The shaft 326 is provided with a gear wheel 325 which is in mesh with a gear train leading from the shaft 240. The sensed card is then fed from the sensing station by rollers 340 driven by belts from the upper rollers 310. Feeding printing and control devices from the sensing station: From the rollers 340 the cards are fed via further rollers 550 driven from the one revolution clutch 220, under a bar 575 (Fig. 7) which forms the entrance to the collector 570. The collector 570 is provided with three different levels to receive the three different orders of cards. Level 571 receives "expire" cards, level 572 receives "print" cards and level 573 receives "skip" cards. If a "print" card has been sensed gates 643 and 642 are not operated so that the card is delivered to level 572. If a "skip" card is sensed gate 643 is operated to direct the card to level 573 and if an "expire" card is sensed gate 642 is operated to direct the card to level 571. The cards are directed along the three guideways to the collector 570 by rollers which are driven from suitable gearing in turn driven by a chain 621 (Fig. 21) connected to a driven sprocket 622 carried on a sleeve 625 rotatably mounted on the shaft 230. The Sleeve 625 is provided with a gear 627 which meshes with a gear 208 which affords the drive for the shaft 210. The rollers in the guideways to the collector 570 are thus continuously driven. The collector 570 remains in position until a print card has been sensed. When this occurs, the one revolution clutch 650 is operated so as to cause rotation of the shaft 655 in which is mounted a cam drum 675 (Fig. 14) having a portion 675S in which runs a cam follower fixed to an arm 680 pivoted at 680P. The arm 680 is connected to the collector 570 by a link 682. The collector is guided by a track in a guide bar 695 which carries a double-faced rock 703. The collector 570 is also provided with rack bars 704, 705 which co-operate with the rack 703 via pinions 706, 707 so as to prevent backlash. Thus, when a "print" card is sensed and fed to collector 570 the shaft 655 turns through one revolution so that the "print" card in level 572 and any "skip" card in level 573 are presented to the transporter 750. At the same time "expire" cards in level 571 are prevented from moving to the left as viewed in Fig. 14 by a fixed plate 910 so that as the collector is moved to the left the "expire" cards are held stationary. When the collector is returned to its initial position the "expire" cards which now overhang the right hand side of the collector are presented to the bite of rollers 903, 904 and then passed to a discard station 905 (Fig. 21). The rollers 903, 904 are continuously driven by a shaft 915 operatively connected to the main drive shaft 210. The transporter 750 includes an upper endless belt conveyer for the "print" cards and a lower endless belt conveyer for the "skip" cards, both of which are operated at the same speed and are driven by suitable gearing from the shaft 655 as shown in Fig. 21. The upper run of each conveyer is resiliently mounted with respect to the lower run and in the case of the lower conveyer relative movement is provided for between the driven rollers at the entrance end of the conveyer so that more than one "skip" card may be accommodated. The "print" cards travelling along the upper conveyer pass under the scanning head SC and all cards are discharged in their original sequence into a receiver 757. Control circuits and operation: Six cycles of the machine are required to pass a "print" card from the magazine SM to the receiver 757. In the first cycle of engagement for the clutch 220 the card is advanced by the feed dogs 275 and rollers 310 against the stop gate 359 and positioned for sensing. In the second cycle the data on the card is sensed, passed to the collector 570, the clutch 650 engaged, and the collector operated to pass the card to the upper conveyer of the transporter 750. In the third and fourth cycles of the machine, the "print" card is passed to exposure position beneath the head SC. In the fifth cycle the card is passed to the end of the transporter and in the sixth cycle is ejected to the receiver 757. Since the clutch 650 only operates when a "print" card is sensed, the movement of a "print" card along the transporter only takes place when a subsequent "print" card is sensed. Thus, the six cycles required to pass a "print" card from the magazine SM to the receiver 757 represents a minimum number of cycles and is the actual number of cycles required only when the "print" card in question is followed by five successive "print" cards. Should one or two cards of a different order be sensed while the original "print" card is travelling along the transporter 750, then since the clutch 650 is not engaged the number of cycles required to feed the "print" card to the receiver 750 will be one or two more than six. The machine is powered from wires E1 and E2 (Fig. 22A) leading from an A.C. supply and by a rectifier E5. Energization of solenoids E13 and E14 effects engagement of the one revolution clutches 220 and 650 respectively. Wires E21, E23, E231, E36 and E49 lead to a stepping switch which affects the normal operation of the machine shoul