Improvements in Apparatus for Successively Feeding Sheets of Paper or the like to Printing and other Machines.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 11th May,
1898
Complete Specification Left, 13th Feb., 1899-Accepted, 15th Apr., 1899
Date of Application, 17th May, 1898
Complete Specification Left, 13th Feb., 1899-Accepted, 15th Apr., 1899
Improvements in Apparatus for Successively Feeding Sheets of Paper
or the like to Printing and other Machines.
I, JOSEPH BOYLAN, of 98, Rupert Street, Bradford, in the County of York,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in mechanism or apparatus for suc-
cessively feeding sheets of paper or the like to printing and other machines from
either a large or small pile.
For this purpose I preferably use a rising and falling feed table inclined down
towards the gripper rollers. This table is supported by chains or their equiva-
lent and it has runners or anti-friction rollers on each side which engage in-
clined guides on the side frames parallel to an inclined plate in front of the
table. This plate is inclined so as to more or less "feather" the pile of sheets
and an adjustable curved or rounded separating pad preferably made of india
rubber projects from the top of this plate, the object of the rounded portion
of the pad being to still further "feather" the sheets as they pass on to it. For
compactness and convenience of adjustment the pad may be pivoted to the said
plate and be supported on an arm projecting from a shaft having means of
adjustment conveniently located. Immediately above this pad a quadrant is
mounted upon a rocking shaft operated in any convenient way to move the
quadrant to and fro over the pad and a feed roller is provided on each side of
the quadrant such rollers being fixed upon a shaft mounted in a spring arm
pivoted to the quadrant. A ratchet wheel is fixed on the feed roller shaft which
engages a pawl pivoted on the spring arm and is so arranged that when the
quadrant moves towards the sheets the rollers roll freely over the front edge of
the sheets but on the return stroke the rollers are prevented from rotation conse-
quently the upper-most sheet is drawn off and presented to the gripper rollers
immediately in front. The feed rollers preferably have an outer cover of india
rubber with an annular cushion of spongy rubber beneath. A serrated scraper
may also be provided to lightly scrape the peripheries of the rollers to preserve
the clingy nature of the rubber face."
The feed table is lifted to gradually raise the pile of sheets thereon as they
are reduced in number by raising the hereinbefore mentioned chains. These
chains engage chain or sprocket wheels upon a shaft above which is driven by
a pawl and ratchet wheel the pawl of which may be actuated by a cam upon the
rocking shaft. To prevent the pawl moving the ratchet at every stroke an in-
clined pendant arm is loosely pivoted on the ratchet shaft and carries a roller
at its free end resting upon the pile of sheets. This arm has an adjustable
projection which at each backward movement of the pawl engages a projection
on the latter and prevents said pawl falling into the next tooth of the ratchet
until the pile of sheets becoming so reduced the pendant arm is lowered to such

page_text: an extent that the pawl falls into the next tooth before its projection engages
that on the pendant arm. A second pawl is provided to engage the ratchet
and prevent the table slipping back under the weight of the sheets. The table
is preferably balanced or counterweighted by weights- upon extensions of said
chains.
The roller on the pendant arm is preferably more or less star shaped so that
when it is rotated by the withdrawal of a sheet the vibration thereby created
tends to assist in "feathering" the sheets.
To "register" the position of the sheets laterally the "tape" rollers or their
equivalent may be moved longitudinally to bring the edge of the sheet against
the "side lay or stop.
"
To facilitate the separation of thin sheets I may employ light spring fingers
or "smoothers" to bear upon the feathered edges of the sheets preferably just
outside the feed rollers.
100
1000
DRACUP & NOWELL,
Patent Agents, Bradford.
Improvements in Apparatus for Successively Feeding Sheets of Paper
or the like to Printing and other Machines.
I, JOSEPH BOYLAN, of 98, Rupert Street, Bradford, in the County of York,
Mechanical Engineer, 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:—
This invention relates to improvements in mechanism or apparatus for suc-
cessively feeding sheets of paper or the like to printing and other machines from
either a large or small pile.
To fully describe my invention, reference is made to the accompanying sheets
of drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts in each of the figures.
Figure 1, is a plan view of the feed end of a printing machine fitted with my
improved feed mechanism.
Figure 2, is a cross section of the same on the broken line a, b.
Figure 3, is a front view without the table.
Figure 4, is a side view.
Figure 5, is a continuation to the right of Figure 4 and
Figure 6, is a plan view of the same.
The inclined feed table A is supported by chains A2, A2 and the anti-friction
rollers A3 secured to its ends and running in the corner guides A5 formed in the
side frames A6, A of the feed mechanism. The chains A2 run over the guide
rollers A and over the sprocket wheels B on the lifting shaft B mounted in bear-
ings B in the side frames A. An inclined plate A extends across the machine
close to the inner edge of the table and the edges of the pile of sheets of paper
represented by the broken lines P bear against it and are more or less "feathered"
thereby. An adjustable curved or rounded separating pad C preferably made of
india rubber projects from the top of the plate A and the function of the rounded
portion of the pad being to still further "feather" the uppermost sheets as they
pass onto it.
For compactness and convenience of adiustment the separating pad
may be pivoted to the plate A and be supported by the arm 02 projecting from the
shaft C and the shaft may be slightly turned to adjust it by the screw C¹ engaging

page_text: the arm C rigidly fixed on the shaft. The end of the arm bears against the spiral
spring C carried by the projection C7 on the inside of the frame A6.
Above the pad C a quadrant or sector D) is mounted upon the rocking shaft D³
and a feed roller E is provided on each side of the quadrant. These
rollers are fixed upon the ends of a shaft or spindle E
more
mounted upon
a spring arm E projecting into the opening D³ made through the
quadrant. The arm E3
is pressed down by the spring E
or less compressed between the nut E³ on the spindle E resting upon the arm and
the projection I on the quadrant. A ratchet wheel E7 is fixed upon the shaft E2
which engages the pawl E8 pivoted upon the arm E3 so that when the quadrant
moves towards the sheets of paper P the rollers E roll freely over the pad Con
to the front edge of the top sheet of the paper previously feathered forward in
the manner hereinafter described. On the return stroke the rollers are pre-
vented by the pawl from rotating consequently the top sheet is drawn off and
its edge brought over the first tape roller F which is in rotation and in conjunc-
tion with the rollers E completely draws off the sheet of paper and passes it on
to the tapes. The vibration of the quadrant D is sufficient to move the rollers E
from the position shown to one immediately over the tape roller with which
they co-operate to pass the paper completely on to the tapes. The feed rollers E
are preferably made with an outer covering of india-rubber e as shown in
Figure 2 with an annular cushion e² of spongy rubber beneath mounted upon a
wooden or other suitable boss e³ fixed upon the shaft F2. A spring, cork or
other suitable rubber or scraper G is provided to lightly bear upon the periphery
of the rollers E to preserve the clingy nature of the rubber face.
The rocking shaft D2 is rocked by its arm carrying an anti-friction
roller 16 engaging a cam groove D7 formed in the inner face of the cam D8
mounted on the shaft D and driven in any convenient way.
The table A is lifted to gradually raise the pile of sheets P as they become
reduced in height by the rotation of the sprocket wheels B raising the chains A³
having balance weights on their free end. The lifting shaft 132 upon which the
wheels are mounted is driven by the ratchet wheel 13 the pawl 135 of which is
pivoted on the lever 136 loosely mounted upon the shaft 132 and this lever is
vibrated by the rod B7 coupling it to the stud B8 fixed in a collar d on the
shaft D². To prevent the pawl moving the ratchet at every stroke the inclined
pendant arm H is loosely mounted on the shaft 132 and carries a star or roller H2
at its free end which rests upon the pile of sheets P. This arm has a screw H³
adjustably fixed in the projection J and at each backward movement of the
pawl B the end of the screw engages a projection 139 on the pawl and prevents
said pawl falling into the next tooth of the ratchet until the pile of sheets
beneath becoming so reduced the arm H is lowered to such an extent that the
pawl falls into the next tooth before its projection B engages the screw H³.
A second pawl T is loosely mounted on the cross stay J3 to engage the ratchet
wheel and prevent the table slipping back under the weight of the sheets. The
roller H2 is preferably made more or less star shaped so that when it is rotated
by the withdrawal of a sheet the vibration thereby created sufficiently feathers
a few of the upper sheets to bring them within reach of the rollers E.
To register the position of the sheets laterally the tape rollers or their
equivalent as well as the bottom lay are moved longitudinally to bring the side
of the sheet against the side lay or stop. For this purpose the cam is pro-
vided on the shaft D to reciprocate the rod 02 which is made with a slot fitting
the shaft D and is provided with an anti-friction roller 0+ to engage the cam.
The stud carrying the roller 04 is fixed by the set screw 05 and when it is
required to work the other lay it is simply necessary to reverse the position of
the stud and roller to the other side of the rod so that it can engage the other
cam 0. The other end of the rod 02 is coupled to the lever R on the stud R2
and the other arm R³ of the lever is bent down and engages the slide piece R+
the inner end of which is made with claws R5 to clip into the groove F2 in the

page_text: bottom tape roller F³.
An arm S on the bottom lay rod S3 is connected to
the slide and causes the rod to move with the slide. A spring $3 stretched
between a pin St on the rod S2 and a pin 85 on the rod bearing S6 is provided
to return the parts to their normal position and keep the anti-friction roller 0
against its cam.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The combination with the pad C of the quadrant or rocking piece D. and
the rollers E all arranged and operating substantially as herein shown and
described.
2. The combination with the pad C, of the quadrant or rocking piece D, and
the rollers E made with an outer covering of india rubber and an annular
cushion of spongy rubber all arranged and operating substantially as herein
shown and described.
3. The combination with the pad C. of the quadrant or rocking piece D. the
rollers E and the scraper or rollers G all arranged and operating substantially
as herein shown and described.
4. The combination with the pad C, of the quadrant or rocking piece 1, the
rollers E and the feathering roller H2, all arranged and operating substantially
as herein shown and described.
5. An inclined feed table arranged to be lifted by chains and sprocket wheels
and mounted in inclined guides, in combination with an inclined plate along the
inner edge of the table all arranged and operating substantially as herein shown
and described.
6. The combination with an inclined feed table arranged to be lifted by chains
and sprocket wheels and mounted in inclined guides, of the feathering roller H2
all arranged and operating substantially as herein shown and described.
7. The method of regulating the position of the sheets laterally by longi-
tudinally moving the tape roller, substantially as herein shown and described.
8. Apparatus for successively feeding sheets from a pile constructed and
operating substantially as herein shown and described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 10th day of February 1899.
DRACUP & NOWELL,
Patent Agents, Bradford.