Patent GB-662622-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to apparatus for rolling articles, such as folded newspapers, journals, magazines, or like articles
IPC: B65B25/14
Filed: 1949-12-02
Abstract: 662,622. Wrapping newspapers. CALLAGHAN, F. R., BROOKE, J. B., HODDER, B. H., and BIRD, H. R. Dec. 2, 1949, No. 31051/49. Class 94(i). Apparatus for rolling articles, such as folded newspapers, journals, magazines and the like articles, having means for holding a stack of said articles, means to remove periodically one such article from the stack, pronged fork means, means to cause the prongs of said fork means operably to engage said article as it is removed from the stack for the purpose of rolling said article and to disengage same when the rolling operation is completed, means to rotate said fork means, means against which said article is pressed during rotation of the fork means so as to roll said article, and means to affix a securing means on said article to hold it in a rolled state when discharged from the apparatus, the operative parts of said apparatus being appropriately synchronised to enable automatic operation of the apparatus, is characterised by the said means to remove periodically one article from the stack comprising a rotating helical vane. The vane has an entry lip and a lower delivery edge, located beneath said stack and giving support thereto and means to engage and draw downwardly a portion of the bottom article of the stack to enable said entry lip to enter said stack directly above said bottom article and by the rotation of said helical vane to separate said bottom article from the stack to an extent enabling it to be engaged by said fork means the rotation of which completes the withdrawal of said bottom article from the stack. The bottommost of a stack of newspapers 31 in a magazine 7 is engaged by a suction gripper 17, carried by an arm 18 raised and lowered by a cam 22, which commences the withdrawal of said newspaper through an aperture in the magazine base. A rotating separating vane 11, which serves partly to close this aperture and to support the newspapers, has an entry lip which engages behind the partially withdrawn newspaper and a delivery edge which allows the newspaper to drop into a position, Fig. 4, where it may be engaged by two opposing rotary fork means 57 which commence the rolling of the newspaper and complete its withdrawal from the magazine 7, the suction gripper 17 having been disengaged. The forks 57 are slidably and' rotatably carried by forked yokes 51, 51a secured to a rotating shaft 32 concentric with a fixed cylindrical drum 30; the forks, as they are thus carried around the drum 30, are rotated about their own axes by engagement of pinions 55 thereon with fixed ring gears 68, 68a concentric with the drum 30. At the same time the forks are moved toward and away from one another by the engagement of cam followers 66 on their outer ends with fixed cam rims 67b. The forks 57 are allowed to move rapidly inwards, under action of spring means which keep the cam followers in contact with the cam rims and being slowed towards the end of their inward movement by dashpot means, to engage the newspaper withdrawn from the magazine 7 and are rotated epicyclicly around the drum 30 rolling the newspaper in contact therewith. Before the newspaper is completely rolled a wrapper strip cut from a web 79 and appropriately gummed is fed thereto, over a platform 77 having an airblast nozzle 88 at its inner end to keep the gummed wrapper out of contact therewith, and rolled with the newspaper. The rolled and wrapped newspaper is moved between and in contact with a spring plate 99 and the drum 30, the forks being withdrawn from the newspaper meanwhile by the cam rims 67b until, when a discharge space 107 is reached, the forks have been completely withdrawn; the rolled and wrapped paper is then withdrawn by travelling belts 103.