Patent GB-190826562-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Feeders for Addressing Machines.
Inventor: EDWARDS ARTHUR ERNEST
Filed: 1908-12-08
Granted: 1909-07-08
Abstract: 26,562. Edwards, A. E., [Cox Multi-Mailer Co.]. Dec. 8. Feeding sheets.-Relates to means for feeding newspapers &c. to addressing-machines of the kind in which the stock rests on edge in a horizontal trough, and consists in the provision of means for feeding the newspapers forward evenly to the suction separator, and to means for stopping the machine should no newspaper, or a crumpled one, or more than one, be fed. The papers are stacked on edge in a trough 2, the bottom 1 of which is recessed to accommodate a number of endless chains 4 (in this case five) which project sufficiently to exert a feeding action on the bottom of the papers. The follower is made in two parts 8, 9, Fig. 14, hinged together, each part being provided with a hook 11, 13 which engages in a link of one of the chains 4. The hook 13 on the part 9 is pivoted on a pin 14 and is free to move beneath a strap 15. Connected to the part 8 by a universal joint 18 is a strut 16, the lower hooked end of which may be engaged in a link of the centre chain to support the follower at any desired angle. The chains 4 pass around sprocket-wheels on a, shaft 26, the outer two on each side being secured to a loose sleeve, while the centre one is secured rigidly to the shaft. The means employed for rotating the shaft 26 and the two sleeves thereon are identical, and comprise in each case a ratchet-wheel on the shaft or sleeve adapted to be engaged by a pawl on -a vertical sliding bar 30, which carries a stop 31 coacting with a book bar 35 mounted on an arm 37 on a transverse shaft 64. The shaft 64 is rocked by a connecting-rod 38, and normally the hook 47 operates the pawl at each reciprocation. If, however, the pile on one side of it has been fed forward sufficiently, a feeler 41 dependmg from the shaft 42 is moved and the arm 45 is caused to disengage the corresponding hook 35. Each ratchet-wheel is furnisbed with a pawl to prevent return motion, and premature actuation is prevented by means of a pawl 50 which is disengaged from the reverse teeth of an adjacent wheel 51 by a shoulder on the rod 30. The shaft 26 carrying the sprocket for the centre chain is controlled by a feeler 88 on a shaft 86 in line with the shaft 42, and bearing against the top of the pile. The lower edge of the papers abut against a series of stops 91 secured to a cross-head 94, which is moved by a cam 95 to release the front paper prior to its being taken by the sucker 104 and delivered between the tapes 135, 136. The bottom of the hopper may be roughened or corrugated to prevent the front papers from slipping forward. The suction pipe 105 is supported at the ends by cranked portions which cause the nozzles to move in an arc toward the pile, the suction being controlled by a valve 110 operated by a cam 113 on the shaft 182. After being separated by the sucker, the front paper is propelled forward by two needle-blocks 123 carried on vertically-sliding rods 125 actuated by crank 131 and link 132 from the shaft 64. The upper feed-roll 119 is mounted in arms 139 depressed by springs 144, Fig. 18, and so arranged that should more than one paper pass between the rolls 119, 120, an electric contact 140, 141 is closed and a solenoid 146 energized. When this occurs, the core is drawn in and the lug 150 is removed from beneath a rod 151, causing a projection 153 on the latter to be engaged by the lugs 154 on the main shaft 155, and the main clutch to be disengaged. Mounted adjustably on the shaft 158 supporting the arm 149 is an L- shaped finger 159, the end of which is located above an aperture 167 in the plate 166. This finger is rocked by a cam, and, should a paper fail to be fed, is allowed to fall through the aperture 167, thus rocking the shaft 158 and removing the lug 150 from beneath the arm 151 and stopping the machine. The finger 159 is provided with a spring-held extension 159<a>, which, should the paper be crumpled or creased, is rocked by the increased friction, thus allowing the finger 159 to fall and arrest the machine. The lower feed-roll 120 for conveying the sheet away is driven by bevel-gearing from the main shaft, and is furnished with a cam, which by means of rack- and-pinion gear rocks the sucker to feed the paper between the rolls. Additional spring gauges may be provided to hold the foremost paper in position.