Patent GB-191517430-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Apparatus for Automatically Operating Typographical and other Selectively Operated Machines.
IPC: B41B27/10
Filed: 1915-12-13
Abstract: 17,430. Linotype & Machinery, Ltd., [Mergenthaler Setzmaschinen - Fabrik Akt.-Ges.]. Dec. 13. Driving - mechanism; keys and keyboards; assembling matrices.- Relates to strip-controlled mechanism for operating typographical and other selectively - operated machines in which, for the purpose of reducing the number of conductors leading to the strip, a combination device is interposed between the strip and strikers, and each signal in the strip consists of two perforations. (i) The combination device consists of a chest 13 formed with channels 17, each having one port connected by a tube 18 to the tracker-bar 19, and a group of ports 16 which register with ports 11 connected by tubes 10, 50 to the strikers, communication between the ports 11, 16 being normally prevented by a series of parallel slides 15 formed with ports which register with the ports 11, 16 when the slides are shifted to the right under the control of a strip perforation. As shown, each slide is provided with a piston 21, Fig. 5, mounted in a cylinder 22, which communicates through a tube 25 with the tracker-bar. As each signal is presented, the air chamber 30, Fig. 1, is connected through one of the tubes 18 to one of the chambers 17 and through one of the tubes 25 to one of the cylinders 22, the shifting of the selected slide causing one of the ports 11 in the selected channel to be connected to the air chamber. (2) The strip 20, Fig. 1, is fed from a spool 26 to a spool 28 provided with an intermittent feed-device operated from a shaft 27, which is driven from the main shaft 35 by a pulley 74 and a belt 34. The pulley 74 is formed with clutch teeth and is held by a spring in engagement with a pulley 57, which is driven continuously by a belt 58. The air chamber 30 can communicate through a valve 29 with a vacuum or a source of compressed air, and is formed with a mouth 31 which is yieldingly pressed against the strip at each operation. The chamber is secured to a bell-crank 43 connected by a lever 42 and a link 41 to a lever 37 operated by a cam 33 and a spring 40. When the lever 37 is depressed, the lever 42 actuates the valve by means of a stud 47, and presses the chamber downwards by engaging a spring 45 on a rod 122 secured to the chamber. When the lever 37 is raised, the lever 42 also is raised and first allows the valve to close and then lifts the chamber by engaging the head 32 of the rod 122. (3) The mechanism shown is adapted to operate a type-bar-making machine, each of the hundred-and-one tubes 10, Fig. 1, being provided at the end with a piston or striker 8 for actuating one of the usual escapement rods 3, and the tube 50 leading to piston or striker 51 for controlling the main shaft 35 of the machine. For compactness, the strikers 8 are staggered in two rows. (4) Mechanism is provided for moving a periodically operated member, such as the assembler 48, and for stopping the strip-feeding mechanism if the member is obstructed, or if another member, such as the line-carriage, does not register with the first member. The loose pulley 57 is controlled by a clutch 60 secured to a slide 54, which is mounted in the main shaft and engages a bell-crank 52. A pinion 61 on the main shaft meshes with a wheel 62 provided with a cam 64 engaging a roller 65 on a lever 66, which is connected to the assembler bv a link 67. When a line is assembled, a signal causes the piston 51 to actuate the bell-crank 52 and move the slide 54 outwards. The pulley 57 is thus clutched to the main shaft, and the cam 64 is operated to lift and lower the assembler. When the cam 64 is completing a revolution, a projection 72 on the wheel 62 rocks a lever 70 engaging a collar 68 on the slide 54, and thus disconnects the clutch 60 and arrests the main shaft. The signal controlling the piston 51 is followed by a blank part, which ensures that no matrices will be released during the raising and lowering of the assembler, provided the assembler is lowered during the second half of the revolution of the main shaft. If, however, the assembler fails to descend, matrices would be released before the assembler was in position, and to prevent this, mechanism is provided for arresting the feed of the strip if the assembler fails to return. This mechanism comprises a lever 81 pivoted on the cam 64 and pressed by a spring 83 against a plate 78, which can slide radially on the cam. A lug 93 on the lever 81 co-operates with the head 88 of a bell-crank 86, 87 pivoted at 84, the arm 87 being held by a spring 89 in the path of an arm 90 on a shaft 91, which is connected by a link 94 to the lever 70. When the assembler descends normally, the roller 65 presses back the plate 78 and the lug 93 clears the lever 70. If the assembler fails to descend, the plate 78 protrudes, and the pin 93 engages the head 88 before the lever 70 is operated by the projection 72. The bell-crank 86, 87 is thus rocked, and the arm 87 releases the arm 90 and permits a spring to move the arm 90, thus causing the lever 70 to move the clutch 60 far enough, not only to disengage the pulley 57, but also to move the pulley 74 and thereby disconnect it from the pulley 57 and arrest the feed of the strip. The obstruction in the path of the assembler is then removed, and the mechanism is reset by means of a hand-lever 96 on the shaft 91. The cam 64 is arrested in the initial position by the engagement with a notch 100 in the cam of a roller 98 on a spring-pressed lever 97. For stopping the driving and stripfeeding mechanism if the assembler is obstructed whilst being lifted, the following device is provided. The link 67 is connected to the assembler through a yielding connexion consisting of a spring 103, Fig. 1, arranged between collars 104, 102 on the link and on a link 101. If the assembler is obstructed, the spring 103 yields, and the link 67 operates the bell-crank 86, 87 through connexions 109, 107, 106, 105. For stopping the driving and strip-feeding mechanisms if the line-carriage 49 is not in register with the assembler, a link 113 carried by a bellcrank 114 co-operates with a bell-crank 111 pivoted on the wheel 62 and connected to a pin 112 adapted to engage the head 88. When the line-carriage is in register, the pin 112 is moved out of the path of the head 88 by the engagement of the bell-crank 111 with a projection on the link 113. The driving and strip-feeding mechanisms can also be stopped by means of a hand-lever 117, Fig. 2, provided with a cam 116, which operates a rod 119 engaging the bellcrank 52.