US2387954A - Paper feeding apparatus - Google Patents

Description

O 1945. R. J. THOMPSON 7 2,387,954

PAPER FEEDING APPARATUS Filed April 7,1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q INVENTOR FOEEETJ. THOMPSON 30, 1945. R. J. THOMPSON PAPER FEEDING APPARATUS Filed ApriL'Y, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet Elma/14M Foaszr J. THOMPSON Patented Oct. 30, 1945.

UNITED STATES earaur OFFICE PAPER FEEDING APPARATUS Robert J. Thompson, Harrisburg, Pa., assignor to The W. O. HickokMfg. Co., Harrisburg, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 7, 1944, Serial No 529,963

14 Claims.- (Cl. 271-49) This invention relates to sheet feeders.

In the art of handling sheets, for example, in the feeding of sheets to apparatus such as ruling machines, it is the common practice to employ a sheet feederhaving a table on which a stack of sheets is arranged and in'conjunction with which a mechanism operates to feed sheets one at a time over a guide conveyor to the particular apparatus to which the sheets are to be fed. The guide conveyor, generally speaking, comprises a pair of' rollers around which pass a plurality of endless tapes to the upper runs of which the successive" sheets from the stack are fed to be moved by the tapes. An alining device is employed in conjunction with the tapes so that in moving lengthwise of the tapes the paper is caused'to be moved laterally to whatever extent is necessary toplace one edge'thereofin the proper osition to be accurately fed to the ruling machine or other apparatus.

One such sheet feeding. mechanism is shown, for example, in the patent to Albert Broadmeyer,

No. 1,766,482. In such patent angularly arranged rollers associated with the guide conveyor effect the slight transverse movement necessary to secure proper alinement of the paper sheets. In

such an apparatus the guidin and alining means is so arranged as to be capable of adjustment transversely of the guide conveyor, and for this purpose the guiding device is carried by rods extending'transversely of the apparatus and slid ably supported in the'side frames thereof. It is necessary, Of course, that the guiding and alining device be accurately set so that the subsequent operation or operations may be exactly performed; This ordinarily is done by some device such as a ruler or a pair of calipers and it is quite diflicult to accurately perform inorder that both ends of the guiding and alining device may be accurately set.

An important object of the present invention is to provide an alining device for paper feeding machines having, novelmeans associated therewith'to provide for the quick and accurate adjustment of the device.

A further object is to provide such a mechanism wherein the rods which carry the alining device are provided with means operating inconiunction withthe supporting frame to facilitate the accuratesetting f the alining device.

A further object is to provide a mechanism of this character wherein the supporting rods for the alining device are provided with means whereby a new setting for the alining device may be: accurately measured and set before moving the alining device to a new setting, thus facilitating the accurate setting of the device. e

Other objects and advantages of the invention Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the split-collar clamping devices,

Figure 5 is an enlargeddetail sectional view taken substantially on line 55 of Figure 1', and

Figure 6 is a, fragmentary side elevation showing a pair of tape-moving fingers in positionon one of the adjustable rods.

Referring to Figure 1 the numeral It] designates a table for supporting a pile of paper sheets from the top of which successive sheets are adapted to be picked up by a suction head ll, operated in,

any suitable manner, to feed the sheets to a guide conveyor [2. Such conveyor is conventional'in itself and comprises side rails l3 and I4 supporting rollers I5 and [6 at opposite ends and'around which pass conveyor tapes I! to the upper runs of which the successive paper sheets are fed from the pile on the table IQ. An idlerbar l8 engages the bottom runs of the tapes I! to maintain them properly taut, in accordance with conventional practice. l

The tapes I! feed the successive paper strips toward the right as viewed in Figure 1 to another apparatus for the performance of subsequent operations on the sheets. Such apparatus to which the sheets are fed may be, for example, a paper ruling apparatus. The sheets fed to such an apparatus must be properly uniformly positioned transversely of the apparatus so that the lines ruled on the sheets may be accurately placed and whereby all of the sheets may be identically ruled.

For this purpose an alining device indicated as a whole by the numeral l9 is employed. This device may comprise an elongated body 20 of angle section as shown in Figures 3 and 5. The numeral 28 indicates the guide itself and this guide is provided with a pair of depending bearings 2| each of which slidably receives a rod 22. The rods 22 extend transversely of the apparatus parallel to each other as, shown in Figure 1 and the end portions of each rod are slidable respectively in the side frame members l3 and I4 of the conveyor l2. Each bearing 2| is preferably fixed to its associated rod 22 by a set screw 25.

The guide rail 20 carries a supplemental wood or similar guide member 28 (Figures 2 and 5) the bottom of which is spaced from the bottom flange of the rail 20 as at 29. The bottom face of the entrance end of the guide member 28 is cut away by curving it upwardly as at 3!] to facilitate the entrance of the end edge of the paper into the space 29. Such guide is preferably supplemented by a spring guide 3| (Figure 2) beneath which the paper passes and by which it is held in contact with the bottom flange Of the guide rail 20.

In order to move'the longitudinal edge of the paper into engagement with the vertical flange of the guide rail 20 to properly aline it for the subsequent operations, a plurality of devices such as shown in Figure 5 are employed. In practice two of these devices are employed. on each apparatus and only one need be particularlyreferred to, although itwill become apparent that this device forms no part per se of the present invention. Each of the alining devices, as shown in Figure 5, comprises a bearing 34 supporting a shaft 35 on the outer end of which is arranged a two-grooved pulley 36 and on the inner end of which is arranged a wheel 31 surrounded by a rubber or similar band 38 to frictionally engage the paper passing thereover. A bracket element 39 is carried by the rail 25] and is provided over the wheel 31 with an openbottomed ball recess 40 in which is arranged a ball 4|. This ball rolls on the surface of the paper passing between the ball and the band 38 to maintain the paper in frictional contact with the band 38. The shafts of the two devices shown in Figure 5 are arranged at a slight angle as shown in Figure 1 so that engagement of the bands 38 of the two devices with the paper tends to move them outwardly, or to the left as viewed in Figure 5 to move the paper laterally of the apparatus to whatever extent is necessary to bring the adjacent longitudinal edge of the paper into engagement with the vertical flange of the guide rail 20 to properly aline the paper. One of the devices, as shown in Figure 5, is provided with a two-grooved pulley 36, while the pulley of the other device has a single groove. The pulley shown in Figure 5 is driven by a suitable cord or the like 42 (Figure 1) passing around one of the grooves'of the pulley and around the roller IS. A second cord 43 passes around the groove of the pulley of the other alining device and around the second groove of the pulley shown in Figure 5.

The alining and guiding device will be positioned transversely of the apparatus in adjusted positions, depending upon the ruling or other operations to be subsequently performed. This adjustment previously has been difficult to accurately carry out. It has been the common practice to do this by measuring with a rule or caliper from the rail l3 along a bar similar to one of the bars 22 to determine the distance to which the guiding and alining device is to be moved transversely of the apparatus to its new position. The difficulty of making this adjustment isincreased by the fact that it is impossible for one operator to measure along both rods 22 at the same time and to simultaneously move 7 the guiding and alining device exactly to its new There is sufticable to measure along one rod and then move the alining device to its new position in accordance with the measurement on one rod and to have it accurately positioned with respect to the other ,rod. In such case the vertical flange of the guide 20 may not be exactly parallel to the desired direction of movement of the sheets onthe tapes I1. The present invention provides means whereby this difliculty is eliminated and whereby a single operator may accurately reset the guiding and alining means.

Referring to Figure 3, it will be noted that each rod 22 is provided with a knob 45 secured thereto outwardly of the side frame member l3. This rod is provided with a pair of collars 45 and 41 arranged on opposite sides of the adjacent frame member I3. Each of the collars 46 and 41 is split as at 48 (Figures 3 and 4) and is provided with outstanding lugs 49 receiving a clamping screw 50. The lugs 49 of the two collars of each rod 22 are offset away from the side frame member l3 to facilitate the operation of the' winged handle of the clamping screw 59 associated therewith.

Two of the collars 46 and 41 are employed for each rod 22 so as to facilitate measurements both inwardly and outwardly of the side frame member l3. The rod 22 is preferably calibrated as at 5| to permit the setting of either of the collars 46 or 41 in a manner to be described, thereby eliminating any necessity for employing a ruler or a pair of calipers. The frame member I3 is provided with a set screw 52 for each of the rod 22, as shown in Figure 3.

As is well known, the supporting tapes I I should be uniformly spaced and the edge of the sheet remote from the guiding and alining device should not project substantially beyond the tape nearest the frame member M. The guiding and alining device usually is moved solely to change the position of the margin at one edge of the sheets while feeding through the apparatus sheets of the same size. Therefore, it is highly desirable that the tapes I! be maintained in the same positions relative to the guiding and alining device. The present device includes means for accomplishing this result. One of the rods 22 carries a plurality of devices each of which is engageable with the lower run of one of the tapes I1, and One of these devices is illustrated in Figure 6 and indicated as a whole by the numeral 55. These devices are for the purpose of moving the tapes in accordance with movement of the guiding and alining device and each device 55 comprises a hub 56 receiving one of the rods 22 and secured thereto in any adjusted position by a thumb nut 51. The device comprises a pair of depending fingers 58 between which one of the tapes I'I operates. Any sliding movement of the rods 22 will move the devices 55 to effect movement of the tapes I! as further described below.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows:

The means for picking off successive top sheets I chine. Accordingly the guiding and alining device IQ is employed, and this, in itself, also may be conventional, for example, of the type shown' inthe patent referred'to, and forms no part per se of" the present invention. Successive sheets from the pile'passing over the tapes I1 willihave one longitudinal edge portion thereof arranged on the horizontal flange of the guide rail 20; usually not in contact with the vertical flange of such rail. Such longitudina1 edge of such sheet will Pass beneath the resilient member 3| and then beneath the guide member 28 and as the sheetprogresses across the tapes !I, it will be engagedfirst by the band 38 of one alining device and then by the similar band of the second alining device. The paper will be held in en gagement with such bands by the balls 4I resting on the paper. The angular arrangement of each roller 31is such as to feed the paper transversely of the apparatus to whatever minor extent is necessary to bring the adjacent longitudinal edge of the'paper into engagement with the vertical flange of the guide rail 2a. The paper will then be exactly alined for the subsequent operations in the ruling machine or other mechanismto which the paper sheets are fed,

Assuming that operations have been completed on one batch of paper and another operation is to beperformed on a subsequent batch which requires a difierent adjustment of the guiding and alining means transversely of the apparatus, the device forming the subject matter of the present invention will be brought into use. Assuming that the parts will have been in the positions shown in Figures 1 and 3 with the collar 46 of each rod 22 in engagement with the frame member I3, and that the subsequent adjustment requires movement of the rail 20 toward the'side frame member I3, the collar 41 may be adjusted along each rod 22 for this purpose. The distance of the adjustment of the guide rail 29 being known, the thumb screw 50 of the collar 41 will be loosened and this collar will be moved along the calibrations to the desired point. The thumb screw 50 will then be tightened and the operation will be repeated as to the collar 41 of the other rod 22. The collars 41 of the two rods will then be located exactly the same distance from the side rail I3. The thumb screws 52 are then loosened, whereupon the operator will grasp the handles 45 of the two rods 22 and pull outwardly on these rods to pull the collars 4'! into engagement with the frame member I3. The thumb screws 52 will then be tightened, whereupon the apparatus is ready for immediate operation with the. guiding and alining device accurately positioned in its new adjustment.

When the adjustment referred to is made, each device 55 will be moved with the associated rod 22 obviously the exact distance of movement of the guiding and alining device. If the tapes I1 are running at the time the adjustmentis made, the tapes will crawl endwise along the rollers I5and IE to assume their proper new positions. If the tapes H are not running when the adjustment is made, the lower runs of the tapes merely Will'be stretched by the fingers 58. Upon the starting of the apparatus to drive the. tapes I1, these elements will soon assume their proper positions along the rollers I5 and Hi The adjustment of the rods 22, therefore, is quickly and easi- 1y accomplished to properly position the guiding and alining device, and simultaneously with such adjustment, all 'of the tapes are similarly moved so as to remain in their exact positions relative to each other and to the guiding and alining device.

Accordingly itis unnecessary to adjust the de- X306 I9 and thereafter separately adjust the tapes Assumingthat it later becomes desirable to adjust the guide rail 20 laterally inwardly away from the frame member I3, the same operations will be performed relative to the collars 46 of the two rods 22. Each collar 46 will be moved to the desired position spaced from the frame member I3 a distance equal to the desired distance of lateral adjustment of the guide rail 20 away from the frame member I3. The set screws 50 of the collars 46 will be tightened and the screws 52 loosened. The operator will then push inwardly on the two knobs 45 to move the collars 46 into engagement with the frame member I3 whereupon the set screws 52 will again be tightened. A new and accurate adjustment for the guiding and alining device will thus be provided. Such adjustment of the guiding and alining device also will result simultaneously in the adjustment of thetapes IT as in the manner previously described. the fingers 58 of the devices 55 moving the tapes in the opposite direction to the adjustment previously described to cause the tapes I I to assume new positions transversely of the apparatus, but in the same positions relative to each other and to the guiding and alining device.

The present device eliminates the conventional practice of measuring along the rods 22 and then moving the guiding and alining device therealong. It is diificult to accurately position the device I9 under such conditions, and it is difficult for one operator to perform this operation. With the present device, either set of collars 46 or 4! may be accurately positioned and clamped to the rods 22, whereupon these rods may be moved to engage the necessary set of collars with the .side rail I 3. Under such conditions highly accurate adjustment may be quickly and easily obtained and it is never necessary to correct the adjustment because of error or misalinement of the parts,

It is to be understood that the form of the in.- vention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In a paper feeding apparatus, having a conveyor for moving paper linearly in a given direction and a paper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, means normally fixed with respect to said guide for supporting it for movement transversely of said direction, and means constructed and arranged to be fixed in adjusted positions with respect to said guide transversely of said direction, said last named means constituting a stop and engageable with a stationary element for limiting movement of said guide to a predetermined adjusted position transversely of said direction.

2. In apaper feeding apparatus, having'a con veyor for moving paper linearly in a given directionand a paper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, means normally fixed with respect to said guide for supporting it for movement transversely of said direction, means constructed and arranged to be fixed in adjusted positions with respect to. said guide transversely of said direction, said last named means constituting a stop engageable with a stationary element for limiting movement of said guide to a predetermined adjusted position' transversely of said diadapted to be fixed in corresponding adjusted positions with respect to said guide transversely of said direction, said, means constituting stops and being engageable with a stationary element to limit movement of said guide to a predetermined adjusted position.

4. In a paper feeding apparatus, having a conveyor for moving paper linearly in a given direction and a paper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, a pair of parallel supporting rods extending transversely of said direction and slidably supported by the apparatus, said guide being fixed to said supporting rods, and means carried by each rod and adapted to be fixed in corresponding adjusted positions therealong, said means being engageable with a stationary portion of the apparatus to limit movement of said guide transversely of said direction to a predetermined adjusted position.

5. In a paper feeding apparatus, having a conveyor for moving paper linearly in a given direction and a paper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, a pair of parallel supporting rods extending transversely of said direction and slid- I ably supported by the apparatus, said guide being fixed to said supporting rods, and means carried by each rod and adapted to be fixed in corresponding adjusted positions therealong, said means being engageable with a stationary portion of the apparatus to limit movement of said guide transversely of said direction to a predetermined adjusted position, said rods being correspondingly calibrated to predetermined corresponding adjusted positions of said means along said rods.

6. In a paper feeding apparatus, having a conveyor for moving paper linearly in a given direction, a paper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, and a stationary frame including side frame members parallel to said direction, a pair of spaced parallel supporting rods to which said guide 'is fixed, said rods extending transversely of said direction and being slidably carried by said side frame members, and a clamping collar carried by each rod and adapted to be clamped in adjusted position therealong, said collars being engageable with one of said side frame members to limit movement of said guide transversely of said direction to a predetermined adjusted position.

7. In a paper feeding apparatus, having a conveyor for moving paper linearly in a given direction, a paper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, and a stationary frame including side frame members parallel to said direction, a pair of spaced parallel supporting rods to which said guide is fixed, said rods extending transversely of said direction and being slidably carried by said side frame members, and a clamping collar carried by each rod and adapted to be clamped in adjusted positions therealong, said collars being engageable with one of said side frame member to limit movement of said guide transversely of said direction to a predetermined adjusted position, said rods being correspondingly calibrated for the clamping of said collars on said rods in predetermined corresponding positions.

8. In a paper feeding apparatus, having a conveyor for moving paper linearly in a given direction, a paper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, and a stationary frame including side frame members parallel to said direction, a pair of spaced parallel supporting rods to which said guide is fixed, said rods extending transversely of said direction and being slidably carried by said side frame members, a pair of split collars carried by each rod on opposite side of one of said side fram members, and a clamping screw carried by each collar for clampin it in adjusted positions along the corresponding rod, the collars of said rods at each side of such side frame member being adapted to be clamped in corresponding positions along said rods to engage such side frame member upon movement of said guide transversely of said direction to limit movement of said guide to a predetermined adjusted position. 7

9. In a paper feeding apparatus, having parallel endless conveying tapes for moving paper linearly in a given direction, and a paper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, supporting means for said guide movable transversely of said direction, means adjustable with respect tosaid guide and engageable with a stationary element for determining adjustment of said guide transversely of said direction, and means carried by said supporting means and engaging said tapes for shifting them transversely of said direction upon movement of said supporting means.

10. In a paper feeding apparatus, having parallel endless conveying tapes for moving paper linearly in a given direction, and a paper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, supporting means for said guide movable transversely of said direction, means adjustable with respect to said guide and engageable with a stationary element for determining adjustment of said guide transversely of said direction, and tape shifting devices carried by said supporting means and each comprising a pair of spaced fingers between which one run of one of the tapes is disposed.

11. In a paper feeding apparatus, having parallel endless conveying tapes for moving paper linearly in a given direction, and apaper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, a pair of spaced parallel supports carrying said guide and mounted for endwise movement transversely of said direction to adjust the position of said guide, a positioning element adjustably car ried by each of saidsupports and adapted to be secured in corresponding adjusted positions transversely of said direction, said positioning elements being engageable with a stationary element to limit movement of said guide, and means carried by one of said supports and engageable with each of said tapes for effecting movement thereof transversely of said direction upon said movement of said supports.

' 12. In a paper feeding apparatus, having par- 7 allel endless conveying tapes for moving paper linearly in a given direction, and a paper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, a pair of spaced parallel supports carrying said guide and mounted for endwise movement transversely of said direction to adjust the position of said guide, a positioning element adjustably carried by .each of said supports and adapted to be secured in corresponding adjusted positions transversely of said direction, said positioning elements being engageable with a stationary element to limit movement of said guide, a plurality of collars carried by one of said supports, and a pair of fingers fixed to each collar and receiving one of said tapes therebetween to effect shifting thereof transversely of said direction upon movement of said supports.

13. In a paper feeding apparatus, having parallel endless conveying tapes for moving paper linearly in a given direction, a paper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, and stationary side frame members parallel to said direction, a pair of spaced parallel supporting rods to which said guide is fixed, said rods extending transversely of said direction and being slidably supported by said side frame members, an adjustable collar carried by each rod and adapted to be fixed in corresponding adjusted positions along said rods, said adjustable collars being engageable with one of said side frame members upon movement of said rods transversely of said direction to limit movement of said guide, and means carried by one of said rods and engaging said tapes for shifting the latter transversely of said direction to maintain them in the same positions relative to each other and to said guide upon movement of said rods transversely of said direction.

14. In a paper feeding apparatus, having parallel endless conveying tapes for moving paper linearly in a given direction, a paper-edge engaging guide extending in said direction, and stationary side frame members parallel to said direction, a pair of spaced parallel supporting rods to which said guide is fixed, said rods extending transversely of said direction and being slidably supported by said side frame members, an adjustable collar carried by each rod and adapted to be fixed in corresponding adjusted positions along said rods, said adjustable collars being engageable with one of said side frame members upon movement of said rods transversely of said direction to, limit movement of said guide, a plurality of collars carried by said rod and adjustable therealong to positions corresponding to the respective tapes, and a pair of fingers carried by each of said plurality of collars and receiving one of said tapes therebetween to shift the latter transversely of said direction upon movement of said rods transversely of said direction.

ROBERT J. THOMPSON.

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