Patent GB-207519-A (GB)
Title: Machine for separating and feeding blanks
IPC: B65H3/06
Filed: 1923-11-12
Abstract: 207,519. Davidson Manufacturing Co., (Assignees of Davidson, W. W.). Nov. 21, 1922, [Convention date]. Feeding sheets. - Sheets or blanks are separated from a pile and fed to machines by a friction roller which is rotated intermittently and mounted so that the traction of the roller can be adjusted to suit the resistance offered to withdrawal. The front edges of the blank contact with a separating plate, and the feeding edge of the first blank is in contact with the plate but in spaced relation to the free edge thereof, so that the roller springs the blank over the edge of the plate. The blanks B are supported in a position slightly inclined to the horizontal on a carriage C which is raised intermittently by chains, or for stiff sheets such as cards, the carriage C is fixed at the desired level, and the sheets B', Fig. 18, are arranged on edge and inclined to a variable degree to the vertical so as to adjust the separating action. Pile tables and supports.-In the first form, the sheets B, Figs. 2 and 5, rest on boards 7 on adjustable supports 16 on carriages C which are guided to move vertically in frames a, a<1> and are carried by counterweighted chains 22 operated by a sprocket wheel on a shaft 24. The side edges of the pile are registered by adjustable plates 14 flared on their undersides, and by vertical angle irons 12 which also limit the forward position of the front of the pile. The shaft 24 is operated to raise and lower the pile by a gear 50 free on a shaft 26. The gear 50 is fitted with a hand-crank 73 by means of which the pile chains can be operated in either direction, or the gear 50 can be operated by power mechanism to raise the pile chains, this mechanism comprising a ratchet 49 and pawl 52 controlled by the height of the pile, and a clutch which is thrown out when the carriages C reach a given height. The ratchet 49 is operated from the shaft 26 which is oscillated by a lever arm and connections with the machine to which the feed mechanism is applied. A cam 67 on the shaft 26 oscillates a lever 60 connected to a pawl arm 53 carrying the pawl 52 which operates the ratchet 49 if the pawl, on the return movement of lever 60, is moved far enough to slip past a tooth. This return movement of the ratchet is controlled by a roller 69 on a spring- mounted arm 68 connected by a link 58 to the pawl arm 53. The ratchet 49 is thus advanced only when the pile needs raising. A pawl 54 prevents reverse movement of the ratchet 49, and when the ratchet is to be hand-operated, both pawls are disengaged by a lever arm 74 on which the pawl 54 is mounted, the arm 74 having an extension 75 which trips the pawl 52. The oscillating member which operates the shaft 26 is connected thereto by a sliding pin-clutch operated by a rod 35, Fig. 2. The clutch-rod 35 is operated by an arm 42 on a spring-controlled shaft 37 which is normally held in a position to close the clutch by a catch 40 engaging an extension 39 of a lever 38 fitted on shaft 37. The lever 38 can be operated by hand to release the shaft 37, or it is operated automatically by an adjustable lug 39<1> on a carriage C. Sheet-separators.-The top sheets are separated and advanced to forwarding rollers 146, 147 by an intermittently rotated friction roller 91 which is mounted in a frame formed of side members 79 and front member 78, Fig. 11, mounted pivotally in arms 81 on a shaft 82 fitted with an arm 86, Fig. 2, provided with an adjustable counterweight 87 for varying, the pressure of the roller 91 on the sheets. Rollers 83 on the frame move in guides 84 and maintain the frame in a vertical position. A separator plate 97, which acts on the reverse side of the sheet being separated, is mounted on a shaft 80 at the front of the frame, and its inclination can be varied by means of a screw 106 and rock arms 95, 96, a scale 111 being used to indicate the variation of the inclination. The roller 91 is mounted in blocks 93, Fig. 11, slidably supported on links connected to the rock arms 95, 96, the blocks 93 being adjustable by rotation of a pinion 100 by a hand-wheel 102. The shaft 101 of the pinion 100 can be locked to the block 93 by a screw when the roller 91 is set in the desired position. The shaft 92 of the roller 91 is rotated intermittently by a reciprocating rack engaging a pinion 122 free on the shaft 92, the rack being operated by cam-and-lever mechanism from the shaft 26. The pinion 122 is integral with a ratchet wheel 123 which drives, in one direction only, a pawlcarrying member 124 having pawls 125 constructed as shown in Fig. 9 with projections 129 to sustain any stresses to which the pawls are subjected. The roll 91 is provided with means for keeping its surface clean, in the form of strips of abrading material clamped between plates which extend across the top of the roller 91. This roller mav be of sectional form if desired. In the form shown in Fig. 18, the sheets rest with the bottom sheet in contact with the roller 91<1>, and the separator plate 97' is supported from the gear 101 which drives the roller 91<1>. The plate 97<1> comprises a front portion 236 which extends substantially parallel with the front 227 of the support 222 for the sheets. Sheet-carriers; sheet-guides; feed-tubes.-The separated sheets are forwarded by driven rollers 146, and idle rolls 147 carried by pivoted arms 150 controlled by springs which are arranged to maintain the rollers 147 in their operative or inoperative positions. The arms 150 carry a guide plate 194 which directs the sheets to an inclined conveyer board 158 arranged to be supported by the machine to which the sheets are to be fed. The board is formed with a pivoted end having a toggle-like connection with the main board, and adapted to hold the board pressed firmly against the frame of the machine but capable of being raised in a vertical direction. The board 158 is detachably pivoted to the frames a, a<1>, and is fitted with strips 190 having inclined front parts 198 which guide the sheets on to the board 158. The strips 190 are part of an upper conveyer member pivoted to the side of the lower part and held thereto in operative position by a spring arm 178 as shown in Fig.'17. The upper part carries rollers 180, and the lower part conveyer tapes 171 tensioned by spring arms 189, and guided by spaced pins on a rod 188 supported beneath the lower section of the board. The board 158 can be held in a raised inoperative position by a hook 199. Sheet-registering devices. - The sheets are registered against adjustable side stops 202, Fig. 17, by means of a laterally reciprocating stop carried on a rod 204, Fig. 5. The rod 204 is reciprocated by a cam which is oscillated by cam-and-lever mechanism from the shaft 26.