Improvements in Automatio Paper-feeding Machines.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Dec., 1896-Accepted, 20th Mar., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatio Paper-feeding Machines.
We NELSON EE FUNK and RUDOLPH FRANK EMMERICH, both of 191 Worth
Street, New York in the State of New York, United States of America, Manu-
facturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
"
Our invention relates to an improvement in automatic paper-feeding machines,
the object being to provide a device which will advance sheets of paper, one by one,
from a stack into position to be engaged by a printing machine, a folding machine,
or any other machine to which it is desired to feed them, the paper being fed
positively and accurately, and the liability of advancing more than one sheet being
entirely obviated.
In the drawings,
Fig. 1 is a side view of the machine, the advancing mechanism proper being
shown raised away from engagement with the top. sheet, and the mechanism for
raising the outer edge of the top sheet being shown in the position which it occupies
before the edge of the sheet is raised.
Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2, 2, of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3, 3, of Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a front view of the presser foot and its operating parts.
Fig. 5 is a side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, the paper-advancing
means being shown resting upon the paper in position to advance one sheet, the edge
lifting mechanism being shown in the position it assumes when the edge of the
sheet is raised, and the presser foot being shown engaged with the rest of the stack
of paper for holding it against movement while the top sheet is advanced; and
Fig. 6 is a top plap view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 5, the presser foot
and its support being removed to show more clearly the edge raising device.
In the accompanying drawings we have not shown the complete machine, but
only such parts as are necessary to illustrate the operation of our improved paper-
advancing mechanism..
The table is denoted by A (see Fig. 5), and upon it rests a stack of sheets of
paper B. The main drive shaft is denoted by C, and extends transversely to the
movement of the paper. Upon this drive shaft we mount a suitable supporting
bracket c.
A supporting shaft C' extends across the machine transversely to the movement
of the sheets of paper near the front of the machine, and upon it is secured a suitable
supporting bracket c'. These supporting brackets cc' are connected by two lower
bars D D, and a rotary shaft D is also mounted at its ends in the said brackets cc..
This rotary shaft D2 derives its motion from the main drive shaft through
suitable connecting gear d d.
We will now proceed first to describe the mechanism for raising the outer edge
of the top sheet of paper, and holding the rest of the stack of paper in position after
said edge has been raised, so that the top sheet may be advanced or fed into another
machine, without disturbing the said.stack.
A collar E is secured to one of the bars D, D', in the present instance, the bar D
near the bracket c. Depending from the said collar E, and secured rigidly thereto;
is a bar e, to the free end of which is pivotted a rack bar e', which extends forwardly
into position to engage a pinion to be hereafter described. A rocking lever P is
Divotted to a forwardly extended arm of the collar E, its arm being engaged

page_text: by a cam on the rotary shaft D, whereby the said lever F is rocked. The
said arm is held in engagement with the cam f, preferably by means of a
coil spring extending between the said arm and the collar E. The lower
arm of the lever F extends down into proximity to the stack of paper B,
and to its end is pivotted a carriage G. This carriage G bas mounted in its
forwardly extended end, a pair of rollers g. These rollers 9 are mounted on a
hollow shaft g,, which is closed at one end (9³, for instance) and at its opposite
end there is eecured an air exhaust tube g, which extends to a suitable exhaust
pump, not shown. Between the rollers.g, which are adapted to rest upon and roll
along the top sheet of the stack of paper B, we mount a suitable suction cup g
which is connected with the hollow shaft g. This suction cup g* rests with its
open mouth in engagement with the top sheet of paper when the parts are in the
position shown in Fig. 1, so that when air is being exhausted, the cup will cause
the top sheet to firmly adhere thereto.
The cup 9 is enused' to positively roll the outer edge of the top sheet of paper
upwardly by means of a pinion g, mounted on the carriage G, which meshes with
the rack heretofore described, and also with the segment g of the hollow shaft.gl..
The carriage G may be extended upwardly to form enrs g', between which may
be mounted a suitable antifiiction roller 98, which travels along the top of the
rack e for holding it positively in engagement with the pinion g.
The mechanism for holding the balance of the stack firmly after the edge of the
top sheet is raised is as follows:-
A plate H is secured to the front of the bracket c', and to the end of the shaft D',
in sliding adjustment, and is held normally at the limit of its upward movement by
means of a retracting spring h, which preferably extends from a portion of the
bracket el to the lower end of the said plate H. This plate is depressed against
the tension of the spring h. by means of an excentric secured to the shaft D³,
which engages an antifriction roller on the said plate.
The plate H is provided with forwardly-extended'.lugs or ears h³, h, and
through them is extended a rod . This rod is provided at its upper end, above
the projection h³, with a head he, to which is pivotted the presser foot. This
head, and thereby the presser foot I, is yieldingly held at the limit of its downward
movement relatively to the plate H, by an extension spring , which extends
between an abutment on the rod 4 and the upper lug
The upper end of the presser foot is preferably bifurcated, and is extended
inwardly beyond its pivotted point, to form arins i. The free ends of these
armsi are secured to a hood J, which has a limited, sliding movement along the
plate H. An extension spring is mounted in a socket in the head h, and bears
against the hood J, tending to force it upwardly, and thereby rock the lower end
of the presser fout 1 inwardly over the stack of paper. An excentric jis mounted 4
on the shaft D, in. the present instance; on a pin extending into the end of the.
said shaft, which excentric is in position to engage the hood J and depress it at the
proper time to.swing the lower end of the presser foot I out away from the stack of
paper B, to allow the paper edge raising mechanism to operate freely without
interfering with the end of the presser foot:. The excentrics hand j are so 4
timed. that the presser foot. I is swung inwardly, and then forced downwardly
onto the stack of paper when the top sheet. has been curled or rolled up at its
edge.
The presser foot I will yieldingly hold the stack B against movement, because
of the sliding movement of the rod and the yielding of the spring h', as will be: 5
clearly seen in Fig: 5 of the drawings.
Proceeding to describe the advancing means proper and the mechanism for
operating it:
Depending from the bracket c, and secured rigidly thereto is a plate K. Two::
rodskik extend forwardly, and their free ends are connected by a suitable plate:k. 5
Mounted on the bars k. is a sliding block L, to which is pivotted a rock lever, M...
which carries at its forward end.a. paper. advancing roller m.. This roller.misi

page_text: adapted to be swung towards and away from the stack of paper B, and has a pawl
and ratchet connection with the lever M, so that it is held against rotating when.
drawn backwardly along the stack, but is free to rotate when advanced. This
roller m may be of any desired gripping material, or may be simply surfaced with,
gripping material, as found more desirable.
The roller m is raised. and lowered in the following, manner :—
A guide bar N is connected at its opposite ends to the upper rod by suitable
swinging arms n, n', whereby the guide bar is free to swing up and down, with the
said rod as a pivot. To the inner end of the guide bar N. we secure the lower
end of a sliding dog n³, the upper end of said dog being engaged by an excentric n³.
on the shaft D. The sliding dog n rests, intermediate its cods, in a suitable-
guide n' on the bracket. c.
The lever M is preferably of double bifurcated form, as shown, and is pivotted
on both sides of the sliding block L. Between its ends opposite from those which
support the roller m, we mount a roller m', which engages with the guide bar N,
and is adapted to travel along the same as the travelling block L slides along the..
rods kk. If the weight of the roller m and the forwardly extended arm of the
lever M is not sufficient to hold the roller m' pressed against the guide bar N, and
thereby hold the upper end of the sliding dog against its excentric n³, a
retracting spring o is extended from a bracket O on the block L down into engage--
ment with the rearwardly extended arm of the lever N. It will thus be seen that;.
as the excentric depresses the sliding dog n", the guide bar N will be swung down-
wardly, thereby swinging the roller m away from its contact with the sheet of
paper.
The block L, together with the lever M which it supports, is moved forwardly
and backwardly along the bars k, k, in the following manner:
:
A two-armed rocking lever P is pivotted to the upper end of a support Q
secured to the rod D. The rearwardly extended arm p engages with an
excentric pl upon the rotary shaft D2, and the downwardly extended.arm p' of the
two-armed lever P is connected with the lever M and block L by a suitable
link p. The free end of the arm p is held against the surface of the excentric pl
by means of a retracting spring p, which extends from the support Q to the said
arm p. This spring p also serves to return the paper advancing parts to the
limit of their forward movement away from the advance edge of the sheet of
paper.
The excentrics n³ and p are so timed with respect to each other, that when.
the roller is in its gripping position upon the surface of the paper, the-
excentric will immediately begin to advance the roller m, thereby advancing the
top sheet of paper, and after the paper has been advanced the proper distance,.
the excentric n will raise the roller m away from the paper and keep it so raised
while the roller m is returning to its first position.
There are preferably two of these advancing nechanisms complete, as above
described, located one near one side of the stack of paper, and the other near
the other side of the stack of paper, but, if so desired, one or more of these-
advancing means may be used.
A steady blast of air against the forward edges of the paper may be used for
still further tending to separate the edges of the sheets of paper, and after the edge
of the top sheet has been raised, to still further separate that sheet from the
remaining, sheets of the stack; which blast may also be used for drying the ink if"
the sheets of paper have been printed, and are being fed to a folding machine..
We have shown, in the accompanying drawings, the position of the nozzle of such.
an air blast, and have lettered it R. This blast of air, however, is not essential to
operate the device.
Proceeding to describe the operation of our invention':
Supposing the parts to be in the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and
supposing that the air has begun to be exhausted through the cup 9, the rotation
of the shaft C will rotate the shalt. D, thereby swinging the carriage G

page_text: rearwardly, and curling up the other edge of the top sheet of paper. When this
has been accomplished, the presser foot I is operated, the first part of the movement
being to swing the presser foot into position over the rest of the stack of paper, and
the further movement being to bring the presser foot firmly down onto said stack.
The roller m is then brought down into gripping contact with the surface of the
upper sheet of paper; the exhausting of air through the cup.g is stopped, allowing
the sheet to freo itself from said cup. The advancing mechanism is then further
operated by the further rotation of the shaft D drawing the roller m along the
stack of paper, and advancing the top sheet towards the machine to which it is to
be fed. When it has advanced it the proper distance, all the parts return to the
position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.
The device as above described entirely does away with the tendency to feed
more than one sheet of paper, and also prevents the rest of the stack of paper from
being disarranged while the top sheat is being advanced.
The table A may be gradually raised as the sheets of paper are fed from the
stack, so as to keep the top sheet in position to be engaged by the mechanism, by
any suitable operating means.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In a paper-feeding machine, a device for lifting the edge of the top sheet of
a stack from the next succeeding sheet, comprising a carriage having rollers
adapted to roll along the top sheet, a suction device ou the carriage adapted to
engage the said top sheet, and means for positively rotating the rolls as the
carriage is moved back along the sheet, to positively roll the edge of the top sheet
upwardly, substantially as set forth.
2. In combination, a suitable supporting bracket, a vertically sliding plate
secured thereto, a vertically sliding rod mounted in the plate, a presser foot carried.
by said rod, means for yieldingly holding the presser foot at the limit of its
downward movement relative to the plate, means for yieldingly holding the plate
at the limit of its upward movement relative to the bracket, and an operating shaft
having an excentric thereon adapted to engage the plate for depressing it, for
causing the presser foot to engage the stack of paper, substantially as set forth.
3. In combination, the supporting bracket, a vertically sliding plate secured
thereto, a vertically sliding rod mounted in said plate, a swinging presser foot
carried by said rod, means for yieldingly holding the presser foot at the limit of its
downward movement relative to the plate, means for yieldingly. holding the lower
end of the presser foot at the limit of its inwardly swinging movement, means for
yieldingly holding the plate at the limit of its ppward movement, and a shaft.
having excentrics thereon, the one adapted to release the presser foot and. allow
it to swing inwardly, and the other adapted to depress the plate and the presser
foot, to cause the presser foot to engage the stack of paper, substantially as set
forth.
4. A paper advancing mechanism, comprising a sliding block, a support therefor,
a rocking lever pivotted on the block and carrying a paper gripper on one arm and
a guide roller on the other arm, a guide bar engaging the guide roller, means for
raising and lowering the guide bar to raise and lower the gripper and means for
sliding the block along its support, for advancing the top sheet of paper, and
bringing the gripper hack into position to engage the next succeeding sheet of
paper, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 20th da
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicants.