Patent GB-184297-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in machines for cooling and finishing curved stereotype printing plates
IPC: B41D5/00
Filed: 1921-05-24
Abstract: 184,297. Hoe & Co., Ltd., R., (Hoe & Co., R.). May 24, 1921. Stereotype, finishing and cooling. In apparatus for cooling curved stereotype plates, the plates are supported on their curved surfaces on a movable carrier by which they are immersed in, and removed from, the cooling-bath. The cooling-apparatus may be used alone or in conjunction with a plate-finishing mechanism, one form of which is described. The cooling-apparatus shown comprises a tank 65 and a rotary plate-carrier adapted to support two plates and comprising spaced heads 68, 69 integral with a hub 70 and carrying rods 82 to support the plates on their curved surfaces when in their upper position outside the tank, and rubber-covered bars or pipes 83 to support the plates when in their lower position in the bath. The hub 70 is driven by a chain 92 from a shaft 89 carrying a gear 90 meshing with the worm-wheel 60 of the plate-finishing shell 9 and the gear 90 and sprocket-gears 91, 77 are of such a size that the hub 70 makes half a revolution during one revolution of the shell 9 so that a plate remains stationary in the bath while the previously cooled plate is delivered on to a standard 87 and the next plate is transferred from the shell 9 on to the bars 82. During the delivery of the cooled plate it is dried by a current of air passing from pipes 85, 86 on to both sides of the plate. To prevent the entry of cooling-water into the bearings of the hub 70 and the adjacent parts of the finishing- mechanism, the hub 70 has a closed outer end 71, and its inner end is provided with a groove 79 in which engages a plate 80 secured to the tank 65. The plates are fed from the finishing to the cooling apparatus by spring-controlled dogs 33 on a rack bar 32 reciprocated by gears 30 on a stud 29 on which is also fixed a small gear 31 meshing with a fixed rack 34. The stud 29 is carried by a rod 27 secured to a block 26 on a rod 25 connected to an arm 24 fast on a shaft 22 carrying a worm-sector 21. A worm 20, movable into and out of engagement with the sector 21, is carried by a shaft 17 mounted in a bearing 16 carried by an arm 14 loose on a continuously rotating shaft 15, which drives the worm 20 through bevel gears 19, 18. Stationary rods 4 extending between fixed heads 3, 5 support the plate during its passage into and from the finishing-shell 9, and when a plate is placed on the bars in readiness to be pushed into the shell, it engages a roller 13 on the arm 14 and presses the worm 20 into engagement with the screw 21 against the action of a spring 48, thereby operating the feed rack 32. When the plate is pushed into the shell, the worm 20 is moved from the path of the sector 21 by the spring 48 and a spring 47 connected to an arm 47' on the shaft 22 returns the rack 32 to its normal position. The shell 9 is driven by a worm 59 operatively connected to a driving-shaft 4.3 on closure of a clutch 57 by depressing a hand-lever 58 resting on the clutch lever 44. To prevent starting of the shell while a plate is being delivered therefrom, a latch plate 41 loose on the shaft 43 is connected by link 40 and bell-crank 38 to a spring rod 36 acting to press the latch 41 beneath a lug 44<1> on the clutch lever 44, but when the rack 32 is in its normal position an arm 46 on the shaft 22 engages the end of the rod 36 to withdraw the latch 41 as shown in Fig. 1. To prevent entry of a plate into the shell while the latter is rotating, the closing of the cluch 57 acts through the connections 54, 53, 52, 50 to raise a pin 49 into the path of a plate and thus prevent actuation of the arm 14. While being finished the plate is held in engagement with the shell between a fixed bar 10 and a spring-pressed bar 11 which is released at the end of a revolution of the shell by a wedge 62 engaging a cam on the frame.