Improvements in Feeding Apparatus for Printing Machines.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application. 10th Feb., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 10th Nov., 1892-Accepted, 4th Feb., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Feeding Apparatus for Printing Machines.
We, EDWARD THOMAS CLEATHERO, of 16 Tollington Place, in the County of
London, Engineer, and JOSEPH ARTHUR NICHOLS, of 20 Devonshire Street,
Islington, in the County of London, Stationer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to apparatus for feeding sheets of paper into printing
machines such as was described in the Specification to our previous Patents
No. 12964 of 1889 and No. 7738 of 1890. Our present improvements relate firstly
to means whereby greater certainty of feeding only a single sheet of paper at one
time is attained. For this purpose according to one improvement, we provide in
bearings on suitable arms or brackets projecting backward from the rising and
falling frame a spindle passing transversely across the pile of paper sheets at a
short distance from the end of the sheets and receiving a rocking motion by means
of a cam on the driving shaft of the apparatus acting on a rod which has an
adjustable sliding connection with a small crank on the said spindle, so that the
latter can be adjusted backward or forward according as the size of the paper sheets
may require it, the forward rocking motion being by preference effected by a
peculiarly shaped cam acting on a swinging arm (to which the connecting rod is
attached) to give the necessary length of throw at the right moment for fluffing up
the sheet of paper while the return motion is effected by the same cam or other
suitable means.
On the said rocking spindle are adjustably mounted sleeves having connected
thereto arms projecting downward and having pivotted to their lower ends hori-
zontally projecting fingers with downward bent ends that bear with caoutchouc
faces lightly upon the top sheet of paper of the pile, so that by the rocking motion
imparted to such fingers by the said spindle they are caused to "fluff" the back
end of the top sheet of paper, that is to say, to draw the back edge of the sheet
inwards away from the back edge of the pile, thereby raising a portion of the sheet
up and separating it from the next sheet. We may also use vertical tipped fingers
or rubber wheels for this purpose.
Secondly, the sleeves have short arms pivotted to vertical bars that are suitably
guided so that they can only move vertically up and down, and which also descend
on to the paper pile after the top sheet has been moved forward, on which their
ends rest with a caoutchouc face.
These bars are consequently made to reciprocate vertically by the rocking
spindle and they are arranged so as to bear with their rubber face upon the extreme
edge of the paper sheet, by preference one at each corner and, if necessary, one or
more intermediate ones. The effect of the above arrangement will be that as the
spindle turns in the backward direction it raises the vertically sliding holding rods
away from the paper, and at the same time brings the fluffing fingers into a back-
ward position; on the forward motion of the spindle it causes the fluffing fingers in
bearing on the top sheet of paper to push it inwards while at the same time the
vertical holding rods descend again on to the extreme end of the second sheet of
the pile which has been uncovered by the fluffing of the top sheet, and they are
thereby roade to hold such second sheet and prevent it from being fed forward with
the top sheet by the feed rollers. On the rocking spindle are loosely mounted other
sleeves from which arms project down to the paper pile so as to bear upon the same
at a certain distance in front of the fluffing fingers in order to cause the top sheet
to be raised by the latter up to the point where these arms rest upon it.
The fluffing fingers in completing their forward or fluffing motion, bear with a

page_text: projection on the underside of the said arms, so as to raise these up away from the
paper, and allow the top sheet to be drawn forward by the feeding rollers.
Secondly our improvements relate to improved mechanism for feeding the top
sheet of paper forward, after it has been fluffed as above described.
For this purpose we employ in place of the segmental feed discs described in the
before mentioned Patents, discs that rest with peripheries of caoutchouc or
equivalent material upon the pile of paper and that have a to and fro motion
imparted to them upon the paper. When the discs are travelling in the backward
direction, they roll freely upon the paper, but when travelling in the forward
direction they are prevented from rotating by a ratchet or equivalent device, so
that in bearing with their rubber face upon the top sheet, they push this forward so
as to feed it into the printing machine. These feed discs may conveniently be
actuated in the following manner. Their axes are connected by pivotted horizontal
links to the lower end of arms the upper ends of which are fixed to a horizontal
spindle carried by the lower ends of arms whose upper ends are pivotted to the
rising and falling frame of the machine. These arms are connected by rods to
eccentrics or cams on the driving shaft of the frame, which consequently impart
a to and fro motion to the before mentioned spindle and consequently to the said
feed discs.
By the above described arrangement the feed discs only bear with their own
weight and in a yielding manner upon the top sheet of paper their pressure being
just sufficient to carry it forward instead of their being pressed down thereon by
the weight of the frame as in the previous arrangements. The rising and falling
frame is held in position on the one hand by the before mentioned vertically sliding
bars when these are pressed with their caoutchouc faced lower ends upon the rear
end of the pile of paper, and, when these bars have to be raised in order to allow
the fluffing fingers to withdraw the top sheet, the frame is held by pawls carried by
the frame taking into toothed racks on the side standards, such pawls having tails
that are acted upon by cams on the driving shaft so as to move them out of gear
with the racks when the said vertically sliding bars are brought down on the paper
pile again, so that the frame can gradually descend as the pile decreases.
According to another improvement, we provide just in front of the paper pile, a
pair of horizontal rollers between which the paper sheet is fed forward by the feed
discs. The lower roller runs in stationary bearings and at the moment when the
paper is being fed forward it is prevented from revolving by an arm which is
made to press against it by a cam or tappet on the driving shaft of the feed
mechanism.
The upper roller is mounted on pivotted levers, acted upon by cams in such
a manner as to be raised up away from the lower roller at the moment when
the paper sheet is being fed forward between them, and is then made to bear
upon the lower roller. The axis of the upper roller is geared by pitch wheels
and an endless chain to the driving shaft so as to receive rotary motion there-
from. Thus on the sheet being fed forward between the rollers, and the upper
one closing down upon the same, the latter feeds the sheet forward by its
motion, while the lower roller, being at the moment prevented from rotating
will offer a resistance to the forward motion of the sheet resting upon it, so
that if by any chance, two sheets should have been simultaneously fed forward
by the feeding discs, the lower roller will keep back the lower sheet while the
upper roller feeds the upper sheet forward.
Dated this 10th day of February 1892.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Feeding Apparatus for Printing Machines.
We, EDWARD THOMAS CLEATHERO, of 16 Tollington Place, in the County of
London, Engineer, and JOSEPH ARTHUR NICHOLS, of 30 Fairmead Road Upper
Holloway, in the County of London, Stationer, 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 apparatus for feeding sheets of paper into printing
machines such as was described in the Specification to our previous Patent
No. 12964 of 1889 and No. 7738 of 1890. Our present improvements relate firstly
to means whereby greater certainty of feeding only a single sheet of paper at one
time is attained. For this purpose according to one improvement we provide in
bearings on suitable arms or brackets projecting backwards from the rising and
falling frame a spindle passing transversely across the pile of paper sheets at a
short distance from the end of the sheets and receiving a rocking motion by means
of a cam on the driving shaft of the apparatus acting on a rod which has ac
adjustable sliding connection with a small crank on the said spindle, so that the
latter can be adjusted backward or forward according as the size of the paper
sheets may require it, the forward rocking motion being by preference effected by
a peculiarly shaped cam acting on a swinging arm (to which the connecting rod is
attached) to give the necessary length of throw at the right moment for fluffing up
the sheet of paper while the return motion is effected by the same cam or other
suitable means.
On the said rocking spindle are adjustably mounted sleeves having connected
thereto arms projecting downward and having pivotted to their lower ends
horizontally projecting fingers with downward bent ends that bear with caoutchouc
faces lightly upon the top sheet of paper of the pile, so that by the rocking motion
imparted to such fingers by the said spindle they are caused to "fluff" the back
end of the top sheet of paper, that is to say, to draw the back edge of the sheet
inwards away from the back edge of the pile, thereby raising a portion of the sheet
up and separating it from the next sheet. We may also use vertical tipped fingers
or rubber wheels for this purpose.
Secondly, the sleeves have short arms pivotted to vertical bars that are suitably
guided so that they can only move vertically up and down and which also descend
on to the paper pile after the top sheet has been moved forward, on which their
ends rest with a caoutchouc face.
These bars are consequently made to reciprocate vertically by the rocking
spindle and they are arranged so as to bear with their rubber faces upon the
extreme edge of the paper sheet, by preference one at each corner and if necessary
one or more intermediate ones. The effect of the above arrangement will be that
as the spindle turns in the backward direction it raises the vertically sliding
holding rods away from the paper and at the same time brings the fluffing fingers
into a backward position; on the forward portion of the spindle it causes the fluffing
fingers in bearing upon the top sheet of paper to push it inwards while at the same
time the vertical holding rods descend again onto the extreme ends of the second
sheet of the pile which has been uncovered by the fluffing of the top sheet, and
they are thereby made to hold such second sheet and prevent it from being fed
forward with the top sheet by the feed rollers. On the rocking spindle are loosely
mounted other sleeves from which arms project downward to the paper pile so as
to bear upon the same at a certain distance in front of the fluffing fingers in order
to cause the top sheet to be raised by the latter up to the point where these arms
rest upon it. The fluffing fingers in completing their forward or fluffing motion
bear with a projection on the underside of the said arms so as to raise these up

page_text: away from the paper and allow the top sheet to be drawn forward by the feeding
rollers.
Secondly, our improvements relate to improved mechanism for feeding the top
sheet of paper forward after it has been fluffed as above described.
For this purpose we employ in place of the segmental feed discs described in the
before mentioned Patents, discs that rest with peripheries of caoutchouc or
equivalent material upon the pile of paper and that have a to and fro motion
imparted to them upon the paper. When the discs are travelling in the backward
direction they roll freely upon the paper, but when travelling in the forward
direction they are prevented from rotating by a ratchet or equivalent device, so
that in bearing with their rubber face upon the top sheet they push this forward
so as to feed it into the printing machine. These feed discs may conveniently be
nctuated in the following manner. Their axes are connected by pivotted
horizontal links to the lower end of arms the upper ends of which are fixed to
a horizontal spindle carried by the lower ends of arms whose upper ends are
pivotted to the rising and falling frame of the machine. These arms are connected
by rods to eccentrics or cams on the driving shaft of the frame which consequently
impart a to and fro motion to the before mentioned spindle and consequently to
the said feed discs.
By the above described arrangement the feed discs only bear with their own
weight and in a yielding manner upon the top sheet of paper, their pressure being
just sufficient to carry it forward instead of their being pressed down thereon by the
weight of the frame as in the previous arrangements. The rising and falling frame is
held in position on the one hand by the before mentioned vertically sliding bars when
these are pressed with their caoutchouc faced lower ends upon the rear end of the
pile of paper, and, when the bars have to be raised in order to allow the fluffing
fingers to withdraw the top sheet, the frame is held by pawls carried by the frame
taking into toothed racks on the side standards, such pawls having tails that are
acted upon by cams on the driving shaft so as to move them out of gear with the
racks when the said vertically sliding bars are brought down on the paper pile
again, so that the frame can gradually descend as the pile decreases.
In order that the said improvements may be readily understood we will proceed
to describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 shows a front elevation of the feeding mechanism.
Figure 2 shows a side sectional elevation.
Figure 3 shows a side elevation.
To the side cheek A of the apparatus we attach suitable arms or brackets B
projecting backward, carrying in suitable sliding bearings a shaft C passing
transversely across the pile of paper sheets and with a rocking crank D attached
connected with the boss E, a rod F passing through the boss E, with set screw G
for tightening rod F, the other end of rod F connected to the swinging arm H at 7,
said swinging arm H having a sinall pulley H' which pulley works in the recess of
cam I, said cam I in revolving with the shaft Z imparts a backward and forward
motion to arm H which also gives rod F a backward and forward motion and
conveys motion to shaft C upon which shaft the quadrant J is fixed. At the lower
end of quadrant J the sleeve K is fixed on one side, and said sleeve K imparts a
sliding motion to the peculiarly shaped projecting finger L which is connected to
sleeve K by means of a hinged joint. The finger L has a rubber facing M bearing
upon the pile of paper 12 when in its backward position. In moving forward the
finger L by the pressure of its rubber face M fluffs the back edge of the top sheet
of paper in a forward direction. The vertical bar N has a rubber foot O, and said
vertical bar N slides between the two flanges of quadrant J and is lowered by the
pin J. The rubber foot O descends upon the second sheet of the pile of paper
after the top sheet has been released to allow of its being fed forward by the
feeding discs P which rest with their peripheries on the pile of paper. The discs
are carried in bearings Q and have a ratchet W which prevents the disc from
rotating when pushing the sheet forward. The bearings Q are connected to the

page_text: arms R at one end, the other end of the arms R fitting on a horizontal shaft ✗
(square by preference) which is carried by swinging arms S the top ends of which
are jointed near the top of the sliding frame, and having a boss Y with a connecting
rod T attached to the eccentric strap U and eccentric V fixed on the shaft Z
whereby the backward and forward motion is given to the discs P. The fluffing
arrangement carried on the side arms B is hinged on the side cheek A at 6; also
the rod F is connected to the swinging arm H at 7, the back ends of the side
arms B being connected to a jointed rod 4 & 5, the other end of rod 4 being
jointed to the bracket 3 which is mounted on shaft 2, thus allowing the fluffing
arrangement to be lifted out of the way for the purpose of putting up more paper
on the board.
Figure 3 shows back of side cheek A with upright slide 8 and rack teeth formed
on slide, and pawl 9 also cam 10 on driving shaft Z; the cam 10 is so arranged as
to disengage the pawl 9 when the vertical bar N is resting on the paper by its
rubber foot O, thus allowing the apparatus to descend as the pile decreases.
:
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 apparatus for feeding paper into printing machines the use of the fluffing
arrangement B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O also in combination the
arrangement 2, 3, 4, 5 for lifting same, substantially as herein described.
2. In combination with the feed discs P operated by the shaft Z through
mechanism Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X substantially as herein described.
3. The ratchet mechanism 8, 9, 10 for supporting the rising and falling frame,
when the vertical rods of the fluffing arrangement have been lifted from the paper
pile substantially as herein described.
4. The combined arrangement of the mechanism herein described and with
reference to Figures 1. 2. 3 of drawings, substantially as herein described.
Dated this 10th day of November 1892.
E. T. CLEATHERO.
J. A. NICHOLS.