Patent GB-938063-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to printing presses
IPC: B65H1/04
Filed: 1961-12-22
Abstract: 938,063. Feeding sheets to printing machines. MIEHLE-GOSS-DEXTER Inc. Dec. 22, 1961 [Dec. 23, 1960], No. 46083/61. Classes 100 (1) and 100 (2). A sh set feeder assembly for a printing press having a main frame 10 and an impression roll 17 includes a feeder frame 32 mounted on the main frame for movement between an operative position adjacent the roll 17 and an inoperative position spaced further from the roll 17, control means for moving the frame 32 between said positions, and feeder actuating means operable during movement of the feeder frame 32 from its operative to its inoperative position to urge the frame from its operative to its inoperative position. Sheets to be printed are fed to the grippers 18 of the roll 17 from a pile 21 on a feed table 22 by sucker elements 23 carried by an oscillatable arm 24 and which deposit the sheets on a transfer table 26. The sheets are printed between the roll 17 and the inked forme of a vertically reciprocating bed, Fig. 1 (not shown). The roll 17 makes one revolution about its fixed axis during the printing stroke and is locked against rotation as the bed returns. A plurality of the sucker elements 23 are arranged on a transverse support member 27 mounted at one end in a bracket 28 pivoted at 29 to one end of the oscillatable arm 24. The arm 24 is clamped to a shaft 31 rotatably mounted in the frame 32. A cam 36 mounted on a shaft 37 driven from the main press drive engages a roller 34 on one end of a lever 33 formed integrally with the arm 24 and thereby provides oscillating motion for the shaft 31 and the arm 24 in timed relation with the movements of the type bed and the roll 17. The relative motion of the sucker elements is controlled by a cam 47 on the shaft 37 which cam engages a roller 49 and moves arms 48 and 51 so that a cam surface 52 engages a roller 56 on one end of a bell-crank 53, pivoted at 54, and connected to a lever 57 via a connecting-rod 58. The rod 58 is movable relative to the arm 24 and carries a spring 61 which tends to move the bracket 28 clockwise. The roller 49 is maintained against the cam 47 by a spring 62. The roller 34 is maintained against the cam 36 under constant resilient pressure by a torsion bar 38 mounted coaxially within the shaft 31. The torsion bar is interconnected between the frame 32 and the shaft 31 by a splined disc 41 and is preloaded at assembly so that a force is exerted at all times on the lever 33 adequate to move the arm 24 from a position adjacent the pile 21 to a position adjacent the table 26 as the roller 34 traverses the low part of the cam 36. When a latch 102 is unlocked and the assembly is retracted manually by a hand bar 80 rocker arms 71, 72 cause the assembly to move in an arcuate path and roller means, Fig. 5 (not shown), cause it to be tilted and the pile 21 is thereby maintained in alignment. Since one end of the bar 38 is anchored to the frame on release of the latch 102, the force of the bar tends to move the assembly in its arcuate path thereby reducing the manual effort required. A projecting flange, Fig. 6 (not shown), is provided to make use of this force when roller 34 is out of contact with cam 36 and to hold the arm 24 over the pile 21 to provide access to the roll 17. The action of the torsion bar prevents the assembly being jammed when it is replaced in its operative position. The movement of the sucker elements as they dip to engage the top sheet is used to actuate the mechanism whereby the pile 21 is raised. Air blast nozzles are provided for preliminarily separating each succeeding top sheet on the pile before it is engaged by the sucker elements. The latch 102 maintains a number of adjustable bolts and coacting studs in intimate contact during operation of the feeder.