Improved Label Making Machine.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Aug., 1891-Accepted, 26th Mar., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Label Making Machine.
JAMES MURRAY WARDALE Engineer 9 Bristo Place Edinburgh 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 :-
Said invention relates to, new and improved machinery for cutting, folding,
eycletting & printing luggage & address labels in various sizes from any suitable
material the said material being of a width corresponding to the width of label
required and the complete label being made in two operations. The material is
drawn through tension rolls by a device called a feeder, the travel of which can be
altered to suit the various lengths of labels. The material is passed on by the
feeder to the folding plates where the diagonal and end folds are put on at the same
time the material is cut by a shear to the required length. The cut & folded label
is then passed on by means of a frame to two rollers which pass the label on to the
printing & eyeletting block there being adjustable guides at each side of the said
block to keep the label in position while being punched eyeletted and printed. The
punch is carried by a part of the machine called the vertical slide which moves
vertically between guides. The punch in its descent takes up the eyelet from the
eyelet feed and then still descending punches the hole for the eyelet through the
folds in the label. The eyelet clinching boss which travels outside the punch
comes down forces the eyelet down the punch into the hole in the label & clinches
it. The printing chase is also carried by the vertical slide so that the printing is
done simultaneously with the cycletting. As soon as the eyeletting & printing
are completed a fork draws the finished label away from the machine & lets it fall
into any convenient receptacle.
In the drawings
Fig. I represents a side view of the machine the frame being removed and shews
the reel of material, the tension rolls, feeder, shear, printing and cycletting block,
vertical slide, and the position of the cyclet feed box.
Fig. 2. is an end view of the same looking into it in the direction the material
travels to be made into labels.
.
A plan of the table of the machine is shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 4 shows a section of the eyelet feed box and feed pipe and a side view of
part of the vertical slide showing the arranging which works the punch.
Fig. 5 is an end view of the vertical slide showing the punching arrangement.
Fig. 6. is a view of the back of the vertical slide V with inking and printing
arrangement.
Figs. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. & 12 are views of various parts of table and folding
arrangement.
Figs. 13 & 15 shew eyeletting slides and part of the twisted groove of the eye-
letting arrangement.
Fig. 14 is a section of the cycletting slides.
The same letter & number indicate the same parts in all the drawings. A
particular description of how such a machine may be constructed is as follows:-
The reel of paper or other material marked A in Figures 1, 2, & 3 from which
the labels are to he made is placed on a spindle a' at the end of the machine-the
width of material corresponding to the width of label to be made. The said
material passes from the reel A between the tension rolls B one of which is fixed
in position, and the other held in place by a spring acting on the spindle as in b¹,
both rolls being free to revolve. From the tension rolls the material passes to the
feeder C which travels in the horizontal slides D; this feeder consists of one two

page_text: or more blocks travelling in the slides before mentioned and has a plate e passing
under the material, from which the labels are made; on the upper side of the
feeder are one, two or more fingers which press the material down on the plate c³.
These fingers are fixed on a spindle, the ends of which pass through the blocks c',
and which spindle has a small upright crank on each end. The fingers are
prevented from rising more than sufficient to slack the grip on the label making
material by a stop. This feeder is worked by a connecting rod c', one end of
which works on a crank pin in the web of the spurwheel 5; the other end of the
connecting rod c works on a stud in the quadrant c which is swung on a pivot
marked in the figure. The horizontal motion is communicated to the feeder C
by the quadrant by means of a crank pin at the end of the small upright
crank on the feeder's spindle. When the quadrant e pulls the feeder along slides
away from the tension rolls it pulls the small cranks forward and so presses the
fingers down on the material, thus gripping it on the plate -and thus pulling
the material through the tension rolls. When the quadrant pushes the feeder
back towards the tension rolls it pushes the small upright cranks back and so
lifts up the fingers thus loosening the grip on the material, so that the feeder
returns, leaving the material behind at the folding plate E. The travel of the
feeder may be altered by shifting the position of the crank pin in the quadrant c
so as to feed in the correct length of material for the labels required. The folding
device consists of two plates E and e'; the plate e' is V ended and slides backwards
below the fixed plate E which is shaped like a V with the apex cut off making it.
the shape of the label when folded, and a part of the vertical slide V having a
V shaped recess e to fit the folding plate e¹. The vertical slide V is put in motion
by the connecting rod v' and crank 2 on the top of the machine, the said vertical
slide V moving vertically between the guides 3. Immediately above the said
recess e² is an open space e³ at the top of which is placed a strip of steel or other
suitable material e' which comes down along with the vertical slide V. As soon as
the feeder C returns to the tension rolls B the vertical slide V descends, bringing
the part of the folding device down on the plate el, pressing the paper or other
material down over the edge of the plate and thus partially forming the diagonal
folds of the label; then, as the vertical slide V descends still further, the steel
frame with strap e passes backwards through the open space in the vertical
slide V and under the plate e', thus turning the corners of the label under, and so
completing the diagonal folds as in X Fig. 3; the frame with strap e' passes stil!
further through the opening e3 and under the plate e' at the same time the plate e¹
is also drawn horizontally backwards under the plate E so that when the strip e
on the vertical slide V descends it folds the end of the label down over the
frame, completing the folding of the label as in Fig. 3. When the vertical
slide V is descending to complete the folding of the label a shear I descends along
with it and cuts the label off the required length. The shear can be shifted by
means of the screw to get the various sizes of labels. When the vertical
slide commences to rise again the frame e passes horizontally through the
opening in the vertical slide V to its original position taking tlie label with it and
passing it on to the two rollers G the bottom one of which is driven by a pinion
wheel geared into the spurwheel c³ already referred to. The plate e and the frame e
get their horizontal motion from two cams e and e' respectively on the shaft of the
beforementioned spurwheel ; this shaft is connected to the overhead crankshaft
by a perpendicular shaft with bevel gearing. The aforesaid rollers G carry
the folded label forward to the printing blanket while the feeder C brings forward
the next portion of the material to be folded and cut. The printing blanket
is fitted into a block which has two holes half an inch apart-2 for punching
the hole for the eyelet in the label. nd with the under boss for clinching
the eyelet in the label. When the label is brought forward by the rollers G it i
passed along between two guides on to the printing blanket when the label is
lying on the said blanket and the vertical slide V commences to descend the eyelet
punch H comes down into the hole in the block F punching, in its descent a

page_text: hole in the folded label; as the vertical slide V still further descends the punch H
is raised up again clear of the block F but not from the label, by a device, to be
afterwards described, when the block F moves forward horizontally half an inch
bringing the hole directly under the eyeletting punch H. The block F is moved
backwards and forwards horizontally by a cam f on the already mentioned shaft
of the spurwheel c. The hole f³ has a vertically moveable socket fo which rests
on an arched spring the object of which is to keep the top of the socket up flush
with the face of the block while the hole for the eyelet is being punched in the
label. Inside the socket f, is the under eyelet clinching boss with its face about
one eighth of an inch, more or less, below the top of the socket f. This under
boss passes right down through the socket f and through the arched spring
referred to and rests at the foot of an inclined plane. When the punch H
withdraws from the hole the block F moves forward half an inch thus bringing
the under eyeletting boss directly below the punch H; meanwhile the punch FI not
being withdrawn from the hole it has punched in the label, the said label remains
immoveable and does not travel forward with the block F. When the block F
moves forward the socket f with its spring, and carrying the under eyeletting boss,
travels up the inclined plane f' and comes to rest with the under eyeletting boss,
directly under the punch H, the top of the socket standing up about one eighth
of an inch, more or less, above, and the top part of the boss level with, the face of
the block F. The upper and moveable eyelet clinching boss his fixed to the
vertical slide V and is hollow; the punch H carrying the eyelet moves vertically
in the hollow boss. When the vertical slide V commences to descend, the
punch H protruding from the boss h¹ picks up the eyelet-flanged side upwards
from the eyelet feed, to be hereinafter described-the cylindrical part of the eyelet
being slightly flattened as it is lifted to prevent it from slipping off the punch H-
and, the vertical slide V still descending punches the eyelet hole in the label; the
punch H then rises slightly as already described, and remains stationary while the
vertical slide V carrying the upper clinching boss descends and the block F
moves forwards as already described; the upper clinching boss surrounding the
punch H, as it descends, pushes the eyelet down the punch H till the said eyelet is
pushed into the hole in the label, the protruding part of the socket f holding the
label up while the eyelet is forced into it; the boss still descending forces the
socket down on the arched spring and presses the eyelet down on the under
eyeletting boss thus clinching it. When the vertical slide V which carries the
upper clinching boss with the punch H, the printing chase U, the inking plate u',
the V shaped recess and the stripe for folding, and the shear I for cutting the
labels, descends, it clinches the eyelet and prints the necessary matter on the
label thus completing it; at the same time it folds and cuts a new portion of
the material for making another label. The folded and cut label is brought
forward to the exact position for being printed punched and eyeletted by means of
one two or more hooked prongs K which catch the label by the diagonal folds.and
pull it forward on to the block F where the label is completed. When the vertical
slide V commences to rise and the types or other printing material, as well as the
punch H and boss are free from the label, a fork k drops down behind the label
and pushes it forward till it falls off the block F and clear of the machine into a
receptacle for the purpose. The prongs K and fork are worked by two
horizontal slides L' and L respectively which are put in motion by the lever
which is connected to the vertical slide V by the stud at 1; the other end of the
lever is connected to the levers and by a stud at 2. The upper end of the
lever is connected to a bracket on the back frame of the machine by a stud at 3;
the other end of lever is connected to the slide L' for working the fork k by
means of the link or other device. The lever 13 swings on the lever by the
stud at 4; the other end of the lever being connected to the framework of the
machine by the stud 5; the upper end of the lever 3 is connected to the lever " by
the beforementioned stud at 2; the other end of the lever is connected to the

page_text: slide L which works the hooked prongs K by means of the link or other device..
The result of this combination of levers is to get two opposite horizontal motions
from the single vertical motion of the vertical slide V. These two opposite
horizontal motions are applied in this case for the movement of the slides L' and L².
The eyelet feed M. Fig. 4. is composed of a box m' circular inside-with a revolving
pottom driven by a pulley from outside and which has one two or more projections
for moving the eyelets about till they come into the correct and only position for
passing through the outlets m² into an outer rim which leads them into the partially
twisted groove m³. The eyelet feed box m', supported by a bracket on the frame-
work, is placed at such an angle that the cyclets fall down to one side where the
outlets are placed; these outlets are made of small pins made of steel or other
suitable metal, at such a distance apart as to allow the cylindrical portion only of an
eyelet, to pass between them; the ends of these small pieces of metal approach to
within such a distance from the revolving bottom as to allow the flange part of the
eyelet to pass out below them. The eyelets thus pass out into the outer rim with
the flange part downwards; the bottom of the box revolving causes the cyclets to
pass on into the groove m³ which is partially twisted so that when the eyelet
reaches the double slide mm² (Figs. 13. 14 & 15) the flanged part of the eyelet is
uppermost. In case the eyelet should not reach the end of the groove m there
may be a pipe fixed close to the double slide so that a jet of air may be forced in,
blowing the eyelet down to the end; when there, the punch II passes through the
eyelet as the vertical slide V descends; the bottom slide m which is kept shut by
a spiral spring, is opened by the roller m³ in the descending vertical slide V
striking a lever m² and in opening, the bottom slide pulls the upper slide m
against the second bottom eyelet, slightly flattening the cylindrical portion thereof
and preventing it and all the eyelets behind it from coming down the groove.
When the punch H has removed the eyelet from the end of the groove m³ the
bottom slide m³ closes, opening the upper slide m' and so allowing another eyelet to
come down to the end-said eyelet being slightly flattened in the cylindrical part
by the upper slide m, clings to the punch H when lifted by it, so that there is no
danger of its slipping off the said punch H. When the vertical slide V ascends,
the roller m strikes the hinged portion m of the lever m so that it does not open
the bottom slide m³.
The punching and eyeletting is done as follows:-The vertical slide V carries a
box N which is hinged at the top at n¹ Figs. 4. & 5-and which carries the upper
clinching boss h' at the bottom. The object in the box N being hinged is to let
the punch H, which is carried by the boss ', come forward to the double slide m m³
of the eyelet feed M so as to pick up the eyelet as the vertical slide V descends.
The box N has a spring n² behind it which tends to throw it forward. The vertical
slide V also carries a lever ³ Figs. 4 & 5 which swings in the middle on a
pivot this lever has at the top end a roller which runs on a plate O. The
plate O is fixed in the slide 3 which is screwed into the back frame of the machine.
The plate O has a recess of which is covered by the double hinge o³ ³ swinging on
the pino, both halves swinging independently of each other, in the middle. This
double hinge oo opens outwards only; the upper half o lying naturally open.
The result of this arrangement is that when the vertical slide V is fully up, the
roller n³ of the lever n³ is on that part of the plate (above the recess o¹.
When
the vertical slide V carrying the lever n commences to descend the roller n³ falls
into the recess o', the bottom end of the lever being pushed out by the box N.
which in turn is forced outwards by the spring. The vertical slide still
descending, the roller passes out of the recess of lifting on its way the lower
hinge o, thus forcing the box N back into its original position. When the vertical
slide rises again, the roller n runs over the outside face of the double hinge o² o³
and is thus prevented from going into the recess o' until the slide V.commences to
descend again.
The punch H moves vertically through the centre of the upper eyeletting boss h¹

page_text: and is screwed into a barrel / which in turn moves vertically in the slot 3 in the
face of the box N. When the vertical slide V is descending, the barrel h² is held
in position at the bottom of the slot 3 by a lock bar which is forced into a
recess by a spring pl. When the slide Q. Fig. 5 which is carried by the vertical
slide V strikes on the bell crank R. Fig. 5 swinging on a pivot r', the slide Q is
checked in its descent; the vertical slide V still descending, the roller S strikes the
uppermost part 3 of the bell crank R forcing it back and causing the other end to
lift the slide Q. The slide Q carries a wedge which is forced up under the
part p² of the lock bar P thus forcing it out of the recess ht and so releasing the
barrel which is lifted up about a quarter of an inch by the slide Q which in
turn is lifted by the bell crank R. The punch H being screwed into the barrel /2
is carried down with the vertical slide V till it punches the hole in the label; when
the slide Q is lifted by the bell crank R the punch H is withdrawn from the hole"
in the printing and eyeletting block F just sufficient to clear the block, but is not
withdrawn sufficiently to be clear of the label, so that the label is held in position
while the block F travels forward to bring the under eyeletting boss directly under
the punch H. When the vertical slide V descends to its utmost the punch H is
held up by the slide Q which cannot descend any further, being held by the bell
crank R. The upper eyeletting boss h¹ which is fixed to the box N and thus has
to travel with the vertical slide V, encircles the punch H leaving plenty of room
for the punch H to move vertically independently of the boss. When the
vertical slide V is down as far as it will go the upper eyeletting boss h¹ is in
position for clinching the eyelet into the label. When the vertical slide V ascends,
the top of the slide Q strikes against the stop T which prevents it-rising with the
slide V. The wedge q' is accordingly withdrawn from under the lock bar P which
is again forced into the recess h' by the spring the barrel being prevented
from rising with the vertical slide V by the arm q² in the slide Q.
The inking device is as follows:-The inking plate a' for the printing is carried
on the back side of the vertical slide V. The inking fountain is attached to the
back frame u of the machine through the opening in the upright part of the frame
where it is secured immediately behind the inking plate . It has the usual metal
roller working into the inking box u and the trip roller passing from the
metal roller u to the inking plate u', which makes a quarter of a revolution every
time the vertical slide V descends. There is a third roller u² in a frame swinging
at the lower end of the two side arms 18 which is held up to the types by a
spring--the upper end of the said arms is being moved backwards and forwards
by a cam us on the crank shaft ². The side arms before mentioned swinging on a
bracket cause the roller in the inking box to revolve by means of a friction
roller 10 on the before mentioned side arins u18 which roller works in the slot of
the quadrant u, the quadrant working on the shaft of the metal roller u―to which
shaft are secured a circular cam 2 and ratchet wheel so that when the side
arms us travel backwards or forwards the roller 10 forces the quadrant u" forward
so as to cause the paul u to act on the ratchet 13 and thus revolve the roller u.
The same motion brings the raised points of the cam 12 to rest under the friction
roller us which forces the trip roller 8 on to the inking plate u'-at same time
distributing the ink. The inking plate is caused to revolve by means of the star
wheel u, the teeth of which rest ou a lever (which can't be shewn) on the side
frame so that when the vertical slide V is descending one of the teeth lands on the
lever and thus revolves the inking plate in the bracket u". The lever is hinged
so that when the vertical slide V ascends the lever goes with it but does not move
the inking plate u'-the foresaid lever falling down when the slide V is fully up→
in order to be in position to revolve the inking plate for distributing the ink.
When the vertical slide V rises the third roller u² passes under the. chase U and
inks the types or other printing material. The crankshaft v² is driven by a pinion
wheel W geared into the spur balance wheel which is in the crank shaft ².
The pinion wheel W is on the counter shaft with the fly wheel and pulley for
driving.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is―
1. The device called the feeder by which the material is fed into the machine.
2. The folding and cutting device; all the folding and the cutting being done
while the material comes to rest for the first time.
3. The punching & cycletting apparatus.
4. The punching and eyeletting device along with the printing, both being done,
while the material comes to rest for the second time.
5. The combination of levers whereby a single vertical motion is converted into
two opposite horizontal motions or vice versa.
6. The cyclet feed box.
7. The double slide at the end of the eyelet feeding groove.
8. The combination of the cyclet feed box with the partially twisted groove.
The combination of the cyclet feed box with the partially twisted groove
9.
and the double slide at the end of the said groove.
10. The combination of all or any number of the above for the purpose of
making labels, by cutting folding, printing and cycletting the same; cutting folding
and eyeletting the same without the printing.
Dated this 10th day of August 1891.
JAMES MURRAY WARDALE.