Patent GB-776439-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in book cover applying machine
IPC: B42C11/04
Filed: 1953-07-31
Abstract: 776,439. Bookbinding machines. FRENCH, L. J. B. R. July 26, 1954 [July 31, 1953], No. 21311/53. Class 16. A book cover applying machine includes a pair of endless chains, belts or the like movable at an identical speed in.a closed circuit over a series of chain wheels or pulleys and carrying between them a series of spaced blades which project laterally, cantilever fashion, from the chains, the blades lying in a plane parallel with the plane of run of the chains and enter between the leaves of each book and convey it to the point of application of its associated cover. Two chains 1 are mounted around pairs of sprocket wheels 2 on one shaft at each corner of a rectangle in a vertical plane, the chains 1 being driven from an electric motor 4 by sprocket wheels 5, 7 and chain 6. The blades 3 of thin sheet metal are secured at one end at regular intervals to one link of each chain. A table 8 lies under the lower horizontal run and has guides for the chains and for the remote ends of the blades to ensure parallel travel of the blades, and an auxiliary table 9 has between table 8 and the blades 3, the ends 10, 11 of which are angularly disposed to engage abutments 12, 13 on table 8 so that the table 9 may be moved up or down by lengthwise movement by an adjusting screw 14 against the tension of spring 14a. The book fillers 18 are inserted at the top of an adjustable hopper 15 and the lowermost filler is fed by a step on a reciprocating slide 16 moved by a connecting rod 17 and lever 52 on a shaft 48, which pushes it onto a blade 3 as it moves past the hopper 15 on its lower horizontal run, the filler having its back facing the direction of movement A of the blades and the blade then carries the filler over the table 9 where a brush 20 engages the filler at an angle so that it falls onto the table 9 at an angle as shown in dot-dash lines in Fig. 8. A hinged flap 19 on the hopper 15 prevents return of the filler with the slide 16. The next blade 3 then engages a corner of the filler and enters between the leaves to engage the back and drag the filler along, the next filler carried by the blade being brushed off onto the table 9. The table 9 is adjusted in height so that the blade 3 engages the filler centrally. The blades 3 each with its filler 18 then pass upwardly past a pivoted guide finger 21 adjustable by a screw nut 22 which engages the fillers to position them correctly on the blades. In large fillers, the hopper 15 may be positioned so that they fall directly onto the table 9 at the required angle. Gluing. The blades 3 and fillers 18 pass between pasting rollers 23 mounted on individual containers 24 pivoted at 25 to the framework of the machine so that the rollers 23 press against the two sides of the filler. The rollers 23 receive paste from rollers 26 mounted in the containers 24 and are driven therefrom by gear wheels 27 at a speed such that the surface of the rollers 23 moves at a slightly slower speed than that of the fillers 18. Each roller 26 is fitted with a pulley 28 driven from a countershaft 30 by a belt drive 29, the shafts 30 being connected by gears 31 for rotation in opposite directions and one shaft 30 having a pulley 32 driven by a belt drive 33 from a pulley 34 fixed to the spindle of one of the pairs of sprockets 2. An adjustable scraper is provided for metering the paste. Applying covers. Covers 38 are fed singly from the bottom of a hopper 39 by a pair of suction cups 40 positioned at the front of a reciprocating plate 35 which moves into the upward path of the blades 3 so that each blade passes through a central slot 36 and removes the cover lying thereover, the blade with filler 18 and cover 38 then passing between presser rolls 37 disposed immediately above the slot 36 for flexible covers and slightly higher for stiff covers with a flexible back so that the covers are not bent. The suction cups 40 on suction tube 47A, connected by a valve control mechanism to a vacuum pump, are mounted on arms 42 pivoted to supports 43 connected to the plate 35 so as to lie just inside the hopper 39 in the outermost position of the plate 35. The arms 42 are normally urged downwardly by springs and raised by an inclined ramp 45B connected to a rod 45A (not shown) pivotally connected to. a rod 45 (not shown) for reciprocation of the. plate 35. Pivoting of the arms 42 allows the cups 40 to engage the lowermost cover, the suction being simultaneously applied by the action on the valve of a bell crank on the plate 35 operated by a pin on a collar or rod 45A. The rod 45 is connected to a lever 47 on shaft 48 carrying a lever 49 operated by a rod 50 from a crank 51 on the output shaft of motor 4, the arrangement being that the range of movement of lever 47 is greater than required for the plate 35, the excess movement being absorbed by springs during which at the outer position the cups 40 are moved into engagement with a cover and the valve operated to apply suction and at the inner position the valve is operated to release the suction and the ascending book filler engages the cover and passes upwardly through the rollers 37. The blades 3 and the bound books then pass along the upper horizontal path where a shoot is positioned to take the books falling by gravity of the blades as they turn downwardly. For small and light books, rotary brushes may be provided at the discharge point to assist the books off the blades. The guides for the ends of the blades are continued up to the plate 35 to ensure correct positioning of a filler relative to the cover.