Patent GB-190420290-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to Machines by which a Series of Signatures are Assembled Automatically in Readiness for being Bound in a Book.
Inventor: THOMPSON WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Filed: 1904-09-20
Granted: 1904-11-10
Abstract: 20,290. Thompson, W. P., [Pray, S. H.]. Sept. 20. Bookbinding.- Fig. 1 shows in front elevation a machine for automatically gathering signatures. The main shaft 100 is driven through spurwheels 101, 102 from fast and loose pulleys 104, 105 provided with a belt fork 106 actuated by a slide 1063 moving against a spring 1065. A pivoted latch 1066 engages a projection 1068 on the slide, and is raised by a pivoted trip 1074 on a rocking arm 1072 actuated from a handle 1070. The spring 1065 then actuates the slide until a projection 1078 on the slide engages the arm 1072, which withdraws the slide to the left. In the backward motion of the arm 1072, the trip 1074 is pushed back by the latch 1066 against a spring, which eventually withdraws the trip against the stop 1077. The signatures are assembled in piles on a shelf 2, Fig. 3, between uprights 3, 4 and horizontal strips 5. A presser 6 formed by a loose pivoted bar rests upon the top of each pile, and is carried by an arm 7 loosely pivoted on a rod 8. The lowest signature is detached and depressed by a suction picker 9. A separator 10 completes the detaching-process, and a gripping-mechanism with a preferably circular motion transfers the signature to an endless chain 13 provided with projections 131, and moving in grooves 121 in a table 12. The signature thus deposited is moved opposite the next pile to receive the next signature, and so on. Each picker 9 is mounted on a longitudinal bar 96, Fig. 4, and comprises a tubular portion 91 ending in a shallow cylindrical rubber cup 943, to press against the signature. A bolt with a radially-slotted head lies within the cup nearly level with the top to prevent distortion of the signature by its withdrawal into the cup. A pipe 971 connects each picker with a suction pump 97, Fig. 15, suspended from a longitudinal horizontal rod 973, and actuated through a lever 979 on a rock-shaft 9791 from a cam 9794 on the main shaft 100, through a roller 9793 on an arm 9797 fixed to the rock-shaft 9791. This cam action raises the pump piston, which is lowered to produce the suction by a spring 9782. In case of failure of a picker to draw down a signature, detector mechanism, Fig. 15, is employed to stop the machine. A feeler 141 on a rock-shaft 142 moves in the path of a pin 14 on the lever 979, and engages the pin 14 when the descent of the piston and lever 979 is rapid owing to non-engagement of a picker with a signature. This causes a dog 1481 pivoted on a lever 148 to actuate a lever 1482, and so stop the machine by connection with the latch 1066, Fig. 1, of the belt-fork mechanism. The lever 148 is actuated by a cam-groove 1491, and actuates the lever 145 and the rock-shaft 142 against a spring 143 through a pin 146 moving against a flat face 147. A shield 1492 on the same rock-shaft as the levers 148, 1482 is simultaneously actuated by the pin 146 engaging in a radial slot, and a curved part 1494 of the shield normally supports the dog 1481 except in the circumstances considered. The separators 10, Fig. 3, are attached to a slide bar 116 and comprise wedgeshaped portions for insertion between the signatures and an attached flat portion for supporting the upper signature. The separator bar 116 and the picker bar 96 are carried in bearings 117 pivoted by arms at the front of the shelf 2 and actuated vertically by attnched rollers 1181 engaging cams 1182 on the main shaft. The horizontal motions of the bars 96, 116 are obtained respectively by a cam 181 engaging a roller 183 on a sleeve 184, which moves an arm 188 attached to the bar 96, and by a cam 182 engaging a roller 183 on a shaft 189, which moves an arm 188<a> attached to the bar 116. Fig. 30 shows in plan the apparatus for detaching a signature from a picker after insertion of the separator, comprising a lever 198 adjacent to the picker cup 943 and forming part of a frame comprising levers 191, 192 pivoted in brackets on the picker bar 96. A torsion spring 197 normally depresses the lever 198. When a separator has been inserted, a roller 1911 on the separator bar 116 engages a cam-rod 199 of the frame and raises the lever 198, to detach the signature from the picker cup 943. The gripper mechanism, Fig. 4, comprises jaws 211, 212 pivoted upon a carrier 21 fixed on the main shaft, one of the jaws 212 being actuated by an attached roller moving over a fixed cam 22 embracing the shaft 100, and being attached to the machine frame by a projection 221. The signature is clamped between a flat plate on the top of the jaw 212 and a flat surface on the jaw 211, and rests upon a curved support 224 formed upon the carrier 21.