Patent GB-191108796-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to Stock or Sheet Feeding Mechanism for Printing Presses or other Paper-handling Machines.
IPC: B65H3/48
Filed: 1911-04-08
Granted: 1912-05-08
Abstract: 8796. Automatic Printing Machines, Ltd., [Harris Automatic Press Co.]. April 8. Feeding sheets.-Relates to a sheet-feeding apparatus in which the pile is supported on the uppermost of a series of tables carried by endless chains, the motion of which is controlled by a feeler resting on the top of the pile, and in which the top sheet is separated by being buckled by wheels into contact with suction nozzles, the separation being assisted by airblasts from the presserfeet and from blowing- nozzles at the side of the pile. The sheet is removed from the pile and delivered to conveying rollers by suction nozzles. Pile tables.-The tables 1 for carrying the pile of sheets are supported on bars 142, 147 on endless chains 143, 148 passing over sprocket - wheels on shafts 145, 146, 149 connected by bevelgearing 150, 151 and driven by worm - gear 154 from the shaft 152. The shaft 152 can be operated by a handle 181 to bring the table rapidly into position, and also automatically, as the sheets are fed off, by a pawl 161 oscillated by a link 163 from an arm 164 on a shaft 178, rocked by a cam 165 on the main operating-shaft 9. The pawl is carried by a collar, which is turned to raise the pawl by a spring, the motion being limited by a feeler 170 which descends on to the top of the pile. The feeler is pivoted on a lug secured to the shaft 21, and is connected by a link 174 and adjustable screw 173 to an arm 175 on a rock-shaft 176, which is coupled to an arm on the rock-shaft 178 by a link 177. As the paper is fed off, the feeler 170 descends through an increasing distance until the pawl 161 is enabled to engage the next tooth of the wheel 162. The handle 181 normally hangs loose on its shaft 152, but can be engaged therewith by pressing the handle inwards against the action of a spring, causing a square box in the handle to engage a corresponding portion of the shaft. Further inward movement of the handle causes an enlargement 187 thereon to engage a pin 188 and disengage the pawl 161 from the ratchet-wheel, enabling the table to be lowered. Sheet-separators.-The top sheet or sheets are buckled against presser-feet 4 by intermittentlyrotated wheels 3 comprising a series of rollers 34 mounted between two disks at the end of the shaft 33. The buckling-wheel 3, with the co-operating presser-foot 4 and the suction separator, are all carried by a frame, comprising end-pieces 17 and tie-bars 18, which is loosely mounted on a tubular shaft 16 encircling the transverse shaft 13, and held in any position across the pile by a spring catch 19 engaging a rack 20. The bearing for the buckler shaft 33 is supported by a link 35 from a lever 36, which is pivoted on the rear tie-bar 18, normally depressed by a spring 39 and raised at intervals by a cam on the clutch driving the buckler. The shaft 13 is mounted in bearings 14, which are adjustable longitudinally of the machine by pinions 60 on a shaft 63 and racks 61, and is driven by bevelgear 11, 12 from the main shaft 9, on which the wheel 11 is feathered. Loose on the tubular shaft 16 is a bevel-wheel 28 in engagement with a wheel 32 on the buckler shaft 33, and capable of being driven intermittently by a clutch member 24 secured to the shaft 16 and furnished with a feather 23 in a keyway 22 in the shaft 13. The clutch-member 24 carries a spring catch which is engaged at intervals with ratchet teeth on the bevel-wheel 28 by a cam 30 on the rear bar 18. Adjacent to the member 24 are cams 41, 42, respectively, for controlling the suction separator 5 and the presser-foot 4. The separator is carried by a lever 44 pivoted on the rear bar 18 and normally depressed by a coiled spring 45, and the cam 41 is so formed that, after the separator has descended on to the bulged portion of the pile, it is raised first slowly and then with a gradually-accelerated motion to avoid more than one sheet at a time being taken. The presser-foot 4 is carried by a lever 50, pivoted to the rear bar 18 and depressed by a coiled spring 51. The foot is formed with an extension 53 having an inclined slot which takes over the front bar 18, so that, as the foot descends, the toe thereof swings forward beneath the raised sheet. The presserfeet are formed hollow and are connected by pipes 127 with a pipe 128 in communication with a suitable blower, the blast being controlled by a valve operated by a lever 133 and a cam on the main shaft 9, Fig. 23. Further to assist in detaching the top sheet from the rest of the pile; additional blast pipes are arranged one at each side of the pile, near the front edge thereof. These are adjustable in both directions, and are spring-mounted so that they may not be damaged by contact with the pile. Sheet carriers. - After the sheet has been separated, it is taken by suction carriers 6, Fig. 13, which are adjustably secured by nuts 70 to the outer ends of horizontal slides 71 moving in guides 72 in a bracket 73 supported by a transverse shaft 74. This shaft is mounted in brackets which can be adjusted longitudinally of the pile by turning the central shaft 77, which carries pinions in gear with the racks 61. The bracket 73 is depressed by springs 82 abutting against a tie-bar 81 located between projections 80, and is raised intermittently by cams 84 which engage a roller 83 on the bracket. The shaft 74 carrying the cams 84 is oscillated by a toothed sector mounted on the tie-bar 81, which receives its motion from a cam on the main shaft 9. The cams 84 are connected by links 86 to the outer ends of the slides 71, so that, as the shaft 74 oscillates, the carriers 6 are given their horizontal reciprocatory movement. The carriers 73 and cams 84 are mounted so as to be adjustable transversely to accommodate sheets of different sizes. The carriers 6 are connected by flexible pipes 117 to a pipe 118, the suction in which is controlled by a valve operated by a lever 126, Fig. 23. The carriers 6 convey the sheet forward to feed-rollers, which deliver it to the printing-machine.