Improved Device for Counting and Separating, into Piles or Parcels, Tags, Cards, Labels, and the like.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Jan., 1894-Accepted, 7th Apr., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Device for Counting and Separating, into Piles or Parcels,
Tags, Cards, Labels, and the like.
I, CHARLES EDMUND SAWYER, residing at Number 6 Ellis Street, in the City
of Boston, County of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, United States of America,
Manufacturer, 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 :-
My invention has for its object to provide a simple and effective device for
counting and separating into piles or parcels of any desired number, tags, cards,
labels &c., as they are carried along upon a travelling belt or carrier upon which they
have been deposited, whereby the necessity of counting out the same by hand is
avoided, and the operation of packing greatly facilitated.
To this end my invention consists in certain novel features and combinations of
parts as hereinafter set forth and specifically pointed out in the claims.
In the accompanying drawings,―
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved tag and card counting and separating
machine.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of a portion of the same.
Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section on the line 3, 3, of Fig. 2, looking in the
direction of the arrow 15.
Figure 4 is a sectional detail to be referred to.
Figure 5 is a detail of the finger-operating cam and ratchet-wheel.
Figure 6 is a side elevation and Figure 7 a plan of the carrier-belt and separating
fingers.
Figure 8 is a transverse vertical section on the line 3, 3, of Fig. 2 looking in the
direction of the arrow 16.
Figure 9 is an enlarged detail of the rock-shaft and one of the separating
fingers.
Figure 10 is a detail showing a portion of the carrier-belt and rock-shaft, showing
the latter provided with a single separating finger only, for use with a single line
or row of tags or cards.
Figure 11 is a detail showing the intermittent feed mechanism by means of which
the feed-rolls are actuated.
In the said drawings, A represents the framework of the machine, and B a table
over and in contact with which passes an endless travelling belt or carrier C which
is stretched over two rollers D, E, and kept tight by means of a small roll b, the
shaft of the roller D by which the belt C is driven being provided with a sprocket-
wheel d which is in turn driven by a chain e passing over a sprocket-wheel,
Fig. 4, the shaft of which is provided with a worm-wheel g which is engaged by a
worm h on a horizontal shaft F placed beneath the table B and provided with a
pulley G driven by a belt i passing over a pulley k on the driving shaft H which
runs in suitable bearings in the framework and carries the driving pulley l.
n, o, are a pair of feed-rolls by which the webs or strips of paper or cardboard are
carried forward side by side to a pair of cutters 25, 26, which serve to sever the
tags or cards from the webs or strips, said cutters being so placed that the tags or
cards as they are severed will drop onto the belt C in such manner as to lie partly
over each other, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, with their longest dimension in the
direction of the width of the belt. The feed-rolls n, o, are driven intermittingly by
suitable mechanism connected with the driving shaft, preferably a ratchet and pawl
mechanism, as shown in Fig. 11; and the upper or movable cutter 25 is actuated
bv a nitman 27 connected with an eccentric 28 on the driving shaft H.

page_text: I is a horizontal rock-shaft having its bearings in the framework, and extending
transversely across the belt C at a short distance above the same, said shaft being
provided with a series of lugs or collars p made adjustable on said shaft in the
direction of its length and held in place by set screws 19. Within an aperture 29
in the lower portion 24 of each of the lugs or collars p is loosely pivoted by means
of a pin 30 shown in Fig. 9, or in any other preferred manner, a finger g, the
opposite end of which consists of a small plate or scraper-blade 23 of the form
shown in Fig. 3, said blade being arranged substantially at right angles with the
belt C so that when permitted to drop upon the line of tags or cards passing there-
under, it will catch the edge of the first one which is brought up to it by the
movement of the belt in the direction of the arrow 15. From a lug 20 secured to
the rock-shaft I at or near its center projects an arm r which rests against the
surface of a cam-wheel s supported by and free to revolve on a stud or pin t mounted
in a bracket projecting from the framework, said cam-wheel having secured to it a
ratchet-wheel w which is actuated by a pawl 31 pivoted to the lower end of a
vertically reciprocating slide bar 32 moving in guides 33 and actuated in one
direction by a cam 34 on the driving shaft H, and in the opposite direction by a
spring 35, whereby the cam-wheel s is intermittingly rotated, and as soon as the
point 36 of the cam-wheels is carried past the end of the arm r the latter is
released, thus permitting the fingers q to drop by their own gravity onto the two
lines or rows of tags or cards upon the belt C, when the lower edges of the scraper-
blades 23 of said fingers will intercept the edges of the next tags brought into
contact therewith, thus holding back the two advancing lines of tags or cards being
carried forward, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, and producing a separation between
the same and those in front of the fingers which are being carried forward with
the belt.
As soon as a sufficient separation has been effected, say two or three inches, the
cam-wheel s commences to depress the arm, rocking the shaft I and raising the
fingers ? clear of the tags or cards which then advance with the belt until the fingers
are again dropped, which takes place when a predetermined number of tags, for
instance 25 in each row or line, have passed beneath the fingers, which on their
descent, intercept the next or twenty-sixth tag, holding back the line as before,
and in this manner the tags or cards are scraped together by the fingers and
separated on the upper surface of the belt into piles or parcels of the required
number, which, as they are carried along by said belt, are removed by the attendant
and packed away or otherwise disposed of, the necessity of counting them out by
hand being thus avoided, and a considerable saving in time and labour thereby
effected.
By pivoting the fingers g loosely to the rock shaft I so that they can rise and
fall independently thereof, they are enabled to accommodate themselves to the
inequalities of the surface of the belt (to insure catching the edges of the tags at
the exact time required at different portions of the width of the belt, which would
not always be the case if they were rigidly attached to the shaft I, and consequently
the liability of failure of any one of the fingers to catch a tag or card at the
proper time, which would result in a miscount, is entirely avoided.
When short tags or cards are being fed onto the carrier belt C a single separating
finger for each row or line of tags or cards will answer well, but where the tags
or cards are of considerable length, I prefer to employ two fingers for each line or
row of tags or cards as shown in Fig. 7, in order to keep them squarely and evenly
in place upon the belt as they are scraped into piles, and I regard two fingers, each.
having a narrow scraping-blade, as preferable to a single finger with a wider
scraping-blade, for the reason that two separate fingers loosely connected to the
rock shaft will accommodate themselves better to the inequalities of the surface of
the belt.
When only a single line or row of tags or cards are to be fed onto the belt C,
the rock-shaft may be provided with a single separating-finger only, as shown in
Fig. 10, or two fingers may be employed if preferred, but where two lines or rows

page_text: of tags are being fed onto the belt as shown in Fig. 7, one or more fingers will be
required for each line or row in order to keep the tags or cards in their proper
positions while being scraped together.
The adjustment of the collars p on the shaft I in the direction of its length,
enables the fingers to be arranged at proper distances apart to adapt them for
tags or cards of different widths, and cause them to be scraped together into piles
or parcels squarely and evenly as required.
By the employment of a cam-wheels having more than one projection, or by
varying the number of teeth on the ratchet wheel w, the descent of the fingers y
may be timed for separating the tags or cards into parcels of any desired number.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what [
claim is :-
:—
1. In a tag and card counting and separating machine, the combination, with a
travelling belt or carrier, upon which the tags, cards &c. are deposited, of a finger
adapted to periodically descend upon the line of tags or cards after the passage of
a predetermined number, said finger being arranged to catch the front edge of the
foremost tag or card brought into contact therewith by the movement of the carrier-
belt, whereby the line of tags or cards in the rear of said finger is held back until
separated by the movement of the carrier-belt from the line of tags or cards upon
said belt in advance of said finger, and means for operating said finger, substantially
as set forth.
2. In a tag and card counting and separating machine, the combination, with a
travelling belt or carrier upon which the tags, cards &c. are deposited, of one or
more fingers, each provided at its outer end with a scraper-blade arranged sub-
stantially at right angles with the belt or carrier, and adapted to periodically
descend upon the line of tags or cards after the passage of a predetermined number,
said scraper-blade being arranged to catch the front edge of the foremost tag or
card brought into contact therewith by the movement of the carrier-belt, whereby
the line of tags or cards in the rear of said scraper-blade is held back until
separated by the movement of the carrier-belt from the line of tags or cards upon
said belt in advance of said scraper-blade, and means for operating said finger,
substantially as set forth.
3. In a tag and card counting and separating machine, the combination, with a
travelling belt or carrier upon which the tags, cards &c. are deposited, of one or
more fingers, each provided at its outer end with a scraper-blade arranged sub-
stantially at right angles with the belt or carrier, and adapted to periodically
descend upon the line of tags or cards after the passage of a predetermined number,
said scraper-blade being arranged to catch the front edge of the foremost tag or
card brought into contact therewith by the movement of the carrier-belt, whereby
the line of tags or cards in the rear of said scraper-blade is held back until
separated by the movement of the carrier-belt from the line of tags or cards upon
said belt in advance of said scraper-blade, a cam-wheel adapted to operate said
finger or fingers at suitable intervals, and a ratchet and pawl mechanism for
operating said cam-wheel, substantially as described.
4. In a tag and card counting and separating machine, the combination of a
travelling belt or carrier upon which the tags, cards &c. are deposited, one or more
fingers adapted to be periodically brought down upon the line of tags or cards after
the passage of a predetermined number, said finger or fingers being arranged to
catch the front edge of the foremost tag or card brought into contact therewith by
the movement of the carrier-belt, whereby the line of tags or cards in the rear of
said finger or fingers is held back until separated by the movement of the carrier-
belt from the line of tags or cards upon said belt in advance of said finger or
fingers, means substantially as described for operating said finger or fingers, a
feeding device for the tags, cards &c. and a cutter for severing the same from a
strip or web, said cutter being arranged directly above said travelling belt or

page_text: carrier, whereby the tags or cards are dropped directly thereupon after being.
severed by said cutter, substantially as set forth.
5. In a tag and card counting and separating machine, the combination of the
shaft H, the endless travelling belt or carrier C, driven by suitable connections
from the shaft H, the rock-shaft I provided with fingers q loosely connected there-
with, the cam wheels adapted to actuate the fingers g, the ratchet wheel w and the
slide-bar 32 with its pawl 31 and means for actuating the same, all operating
substantially as described.
6. In a tag and card counting and separating machine, the combination, with the
travelling belt or carrier C, of the rock-shaft I provided with fingers loosely
connected therewith, whereby said fingers when dropped are enabled to conform to
the inequalities of the surface of the belt to insure catching the edges of the tags
or cards at the proper time, and means substantially as described for intermittingly
actuating said fingers, substantially as set forth.
7. In a tag and card counting and separating machine, the combination, with the
travelling belt C and the rock-shaft 1 provided with lugs or collars made adjustable
on said shaft in the direction of its length, of the fingers 9 loosely connected to said
lugs or collars to enable them when dropped to conform to the inequalities of the
surface of the belt, and a cam-wheel and ratchet mechanism for intermittingly
actuating said fingers, all operating substantially as set forth.
Dated this 2nd day of January 1894.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.