US2717154A - Sheet feeder - Google Patents

Description

J. R. WOOD SHEET FEEDER Sept. 6, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 6, 1951 mw. n, wx. o

INVNTOR. JMES A? Waan BY Arme/Veys Sept. 6, 1955 J. R. woon 2,717,154

SHEET FEEDER Filed Jan. 6, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aramvsya Sept. 6, 1955 J. R. woon 2,717,154

SHEET FEEDER Filed Jan. 6, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR.

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United States Patent() `SHiimt rsspsn James R- Wood.. Cleveland, Ohio, assigner tenants-Sty` bold Company, Clcvslands. Qllio, s corporation of Dela- Wail'e Application January 6, 1951, Serial No. 204,756

s, claims.. (ci-andi).

This invention reiates to improvements in sheetfeeders of the type which are-adapted to' fcedlsheetseither in a slow moving stream of overlapped sheets or rapidly in single file,v generallytermed single sheet feeding or sheet by sheet feeding.

One of the objects of the` invention is the provision of l proceed with the description of those embodiments `of the invention which, foi` the purposes of the present application, l have illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmental' side elevational viewv illustrating a pile feeder embodying the inventionand'vconnected with s printing press. thc iiiiprcssico .cyliridcr only of which is shown.

Fig. 2- is a sectional; detail' view on a larger scale showing the drive from the press` tothe sheet separator anrlto the tape drive'roller. qThe, View may lbe consideredas taken approximately on the line 2 2 of Fig. l, although it shows almodiiied form of theinvention.

Fig, 3j is an elevational view also on'r a large scalev illustrating especially the mechanism for'i'mparting nonfuniform drive to the tape driving rollers for `sliuet byrsheet feeding, and i Fig. 4 is adiagrarnmatic view showing the velocity of the conveyor tapes while running` for sheet by sheet feed'- ing or alternatively-while running for' stream feeding.

Referring frst to Fig. l' of the drawing',v 10; indicates the frame of a rotary printing pressin whichis rotatably mounted in the usual; manne'rf'a'n impression cylinderv 11. 12 is a feedboardiwhiclrextendsforward' atabslightY downward inclination to a point directly above cylinder 11', and 13 represents aiset of front stops which` aremount'ed andI actuated to swingZ downtov the operative; position illustrated at the prop er time inY l'each printingl y'cle and to swing upwardlyV out of the way'during the rest Qfthe cycle. They are operated'in a c'nventioiialmanner; as for example by means of a` cam,y no tilliistrated, turning with cylinder 11 Shaft 14 is geared to the, shaft` of cylinder 11 to turn at the same speed; It carries a,`s"1 Jrt`)lcletwhee'llSv over which an endless chain 176 n n mounted on the Asheet feeder. The sheet `separating and forwarding mechanism 'is driven in*` onetio-fone. relation with the rotation of'rspr'oclet 17 and consequently in the same relation `with thatof cylinder 1J.; andfthe cooperating cylinders of'the printing press.

Portions of1 the side members of the feeder, frame, are shown at 18 and 19. 'In frame mernber 18 there' is mounted a bushing-20; A shaft-21v is-journaled'in this runs'to a secondfsprocliet l17 Ace bushing so as to project somewhat beyond frame member 18, the other endof the shaft being journaled in tlie other frame member 19. .On the outer side, of frame member 1 a hub V 22 is keyed to shaft 21.] It is provided with an annular rabbet 23 which is` of. slightly lcss depth than the thickness of annular spocket wheel 17 Vwhichts within the rabbet and is angularly adjustable therein. A clamping plate 24 surrounds shaft 21 and overlaps sprocket wheel 17. A portion of the periphery of this plate iscut away as indicated at 25 to accommodate a pin `26 that is mounted in sprocket 17 and is adapted to bear against one or the other of the shoulders'atjthe ends of the cutaway portionv 25 of the clamping plate.

Clamping plate 24 is anchored in hub 2 2 by means of three bolts 27 upon the outer ends of which are nuts 28. When plate 24 is to be adjusted from the position illustrated in Fig. 3 to a position in which pin`2n6 abuts against the shoulder 29, nuts 28 are loosened, the plate 24v is turned to. the new position and the nuts again tightened. To facilitate this operation the extremity of shaft 21 may be provided withrparallel at surfaces to receive a wrench so that the shaft, the hub 22 (and plate 24) may bek turned relative to sprocket 17.

In the Fig. 1 form of the invention the sprocket 17 is permanently attached tohub. 2 2 instead of being adjustsblc relative thcrcto as lustl described and as shownin Figs. 2 and 3. l

A second sprockci whccl 32 and a scar 33ers locked to' hub 22 by thc bolts 2.7v A chain 34 runs ovcrsnrockct 32 and ovcr s sprocket 3.5 which is loclccdto a. hub 36 that is kcycd to e shaft 37- The-chain, may bc maintained, taut by means of an idler sprocket shaft 37 is caused to turn one revolution for.' each revolution of shaft 21 and consequently for each revolution of cylinder 11- Shaft 37 drives thcshcct separating .and forwarding mechanism disnoscd above thc roar ofapilc d8 of shccts which arc to bc fod. to thc press, aridby this mechanism ashes-t is,k separated. from. thc pile at cach cycle of thcprcss and started forward toward thc press.` This scpsratiris. and forwardingA mechanism. will bc. described vcry -briclly sincc pcr 'se it formsnopart of thc proscrit invcridon.` I

Shaft 37 carries a vcvcl acer indicated at 40 in Figx 1 which meshes with a bcvslisear. 4l pinned to a .short shaft 42. On the latter shaft there is` aV pinion 4.3. which meshes with, a second pinion A441121.1211. is keyed to a shaft 45 which extends fromy front ,to rear of the feeder. At its, rear end it is connected by bevel gears Ato a transverse shaft 47 upon whichris fixed,` a cani 48j turning one to one with Vthe press. A follower 49- on a bellcranl;l 50 is actuated by the cam to reciprocatev a rodjSl, which swings. an arm 52' pinned to a shaft 53 upon which are mounted one or more legs 5.4' carrying suckers 55. their lower ends which serve to lift the rear edge of the sheet. By the swinging. motion of' the legs S'4fthe top sheet may be pulled rearwardly a short distance to break it loose from the pile and then carried'forward, preferably over one or more air blasts, until the forward' edge enters the bight of the nippe'r or pull-out.` rolls. Thefforward speed of suckers 55j is preferably made equaltothe sur: face speed of the pull-out rolls kso that controloftlie sheet will be transferred. smoothly from the suckers to the conveyor. After the sheet has been taken by the conveyor, the suctiotn is cut olf and the suckersdecelferate to zero speed and then return to their sheet takingposition. The

pull-out rolls in the illustrated case comprise atapedriving roller 56 over which conveyor tapes i7 run and( a' series of wheels 58 disposed to bear upon the tapes or the sheets on the tapes-and by their own Weight 'orby suitable vspring loading to press' thei sheets ragainst. the tapes and thus'impart good traction. Theupper; runs of the tapes 57 of Acourse overlie the feedv board 12 and i1-` By thc means. described at the forward end of the feed board they run over an idler roller 59.

Uniform drive to conveyor taper- For stream feeding the tapes 57 are caused to move at a constant relatively low speed. To this end a pinion 62 is keyed to shaft 21. lt is adapted to mesh with a pinion 63 that is slidably keyed to the shaft 64 upon which the tape driving rollers 56 are mounted. Shaft 64 is parallel to shaft 21 and closely adjacent thereto and is suitably journaled in frame members 18 and 19. A second pinion 65 identical in size with pinion 62 is rotatably mounted on shaft 2l hetween bushing and pinion 62. Pinion 63 may be caused to mesh with either of pinions `62 and 65 or it may occupy-a position between those pinions and out of mesh with both of them, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The shifting of pinion 63 lengthwise of shaft 64 may be effected by any convenient means. in the illustrated case I employ a yoke 66 which engages a peripheral groove in the pinion and is attached to a shift rod 67 that may be moved lengthwise through a bushing 68 mounted in the frame member 18. The movement is effected by means of a manually turnable shaft 69 having a knurled knob 70 which may be turned approximately 90 in either direction from its neutral position. Shaft 69 at its inner end carries a disk 71 in which is anchored a pin '72 that is disposed between a pair of spaced plates 73 on rod 6'7. As will be apparent the turning of knob 7% a quarter turn in one direction from the neutral position of Fig. 2 will shift pinion 63 into mesh with pinion 65, while turning it a quarter turn in the opposite direction will shift it into mesh with pinion 62.

When pinions 62 and 63 are in mesh drive will be transmitted from chain 16 through sprocket 17 to shaft 21 and thence through the meshing pinions to shaft 64, which will cause the tapes 57 to travel at a constantly uniform low rate of speed.

Non-uniform drive to tapes for sheet by sheet feeding-This drive embodies a bell crank lever indicated generally at 75 that is oscillatable about the axis of shaft 21. In this bell crank one of the arms is formed as a yoke having spaced sections 76 and 77 attached-at their outer ends to a sleeve 78 and at their inner ends having hubs 79 and 80 which are journaled on the bushing 20 on opposite sides of a projecting part of the frame member 18.` A short shaft 81 extends through sleeve 78.

On one end it has a small gear 82 keyed thereto and meshing with gear 33. On its opposite end there is keyed a larger gear 83 which meshes with pinion 65. The train comprising gears 33, 82, 83 and pinion 65 obviously drives pinion 65 at a higher angular speed than shaft 21. i

The other arm 85 of the bell crank carries at its extermity a noddle pin 86 through which is mounted to slide a rod 87. A compression spring S8 surrounds this rod between the nodclle pin and a collar S9 fixed on the rod, the latter being pivotally anchored on the frame member 18 at 90. Also pivoted to arm 85 there is a link 91 which extends up to and is pivotally connected with one arm 92 of a lever that swings upon a pivot 93 carried by the frame. The other arm 94 of this lever carries a roller follower 95 which runs upon the periphery of a cam 96 that is locked to hub 36 on shaft 37. Conveniently this cam and the sprocket 35 are fastened to the hub by the same bolts 97. By the connections described, as the follower 95 rides out onto the high portion of the cam the bell crank 75 is swung in the clockwise direction, and as the spring 88 causes the follower to ride down onto the lower portions of the cam the bell crank is swung in the counterclockwise direction.

The oscillation of the bell crank and the resulting travel of the gears 32 and 83 over the gear 33 and pinion 65, part of the time to increase the up gearing through the gear train and part of the time to decrease it, provides a non-uniform rate of travel to the conveyor tapes, but the control of these oscillations by means of the cam permits the degree of slow-down and speed-up, and the extent of each, to be selected for the best results. The diagram of Fig. 4 shows how the illustrated construction takes advantage of this fact. In this diagram the velocity of the tapes during one cycle of the press is shown at for stream feeding, and the different velocities for sheet by sheet feeding are indicated at 101, 102 and 103 connected by diagonal lines indicating the increasing and decreasing speeds.

As indicated in the diagram the speed ratio between sheet by sheet feeding and stream feeding may be of the order of three and one-half to one. By means of the cam however this non-uniform speed is reduced during the period marked A to the same speed as that at which the tapes run continuously for stream feeding, which is the speed that corresponds to the forward travel of suckers 55. To make up for this lower than basic speed during the period marked C the cam provides a greater than basic speed for the comparatively extended period B. The timing is such that during the low speed period A when the forward edge of one sheet is presented to the bight between pull-out rolls 56 and 58 the forward edge i); the preceding sheet is being presented to the front stops The mechanism for separating the sheets and forwarding them off the pilel moves always at the same rate and the conveyor at the time it takes a sheet moves also at the same rate and therefore cooperates properly with the sheet feeding means regardless of which type of feed is being employed. Also the slow travel of the tapes when a sheet is presented to the front stops in both types of feed prevents bouncing back of the sheets or crumpling of their front edges. Y Y

In the Fig. 1 form of the invention the distance between the pull-out rolls 56, 58 and the front stops 13 is an exact multiple ofthe spacing of the front edges of the sheets in the stream. Also in this form of the invention the sprocket 17 is not adjustable as the sheets fed by either stream feeding or sheet by sheet feeding engage the front stops at the same instant the press cycle.y When the mechanism is operated for sheet by sheet feeding the front edge of one sheet enters the pull-out rolls at the same time that the front edge of the preceding sheet engages the front stops, and this is at the time that the velocity of the tapes is at the station A of the Fig. 4 diagram. y

When however the distance between the pull-out rolls and the front stops is not a multiple of the spacing of the front edges of the sheets of the stream it is necessary in order to stream feed to change the timing of the sheet separator and forwarder so as to cause the sheets to engage the front stops at the same instant in the press cycle as that at which the sheets engage the front stopsy while sheet by sheet feeding. It is for this reason that the plate 24 must be placed in the Fig. 3 position while stream feeding. VFor sheet by sheet feeding the plate 24 must be swung counterclockwise from the position of Fig. 3 until the pin 26 strikes the shoulder 29 upon the clamping plate 24.

Obviously the movement of yoke 66 by the hand knob 70 to cause pinionr63 to mesh with one or the other of pinions 62 and 65may be effected almost instantly, and this is all that is necessary to change from one type of feed to the other provided that the distance between pullout rolls 56, 58 and front stops 13 is a multiple of the u spacing of the front edges of sheets making up a stream.

ln case this `dimension is not built into the machine then it becomes necessary to shift the sprocket 17 from one position to the other as previously described. When the mav chine is being operated as a stream feeder the bell crank 75 will oscillate back and forth and the gears 33, 82 and 83 will turn, but inasmuch as pinion 65 is not then in mesh with pinion 63 the oscillation of the bell crank will have no effect. l

Having thus described lmy invention, I claim: l. In a sheet feeder for printing presses or other sheet handling machines, a feed board, sheet separating means having a forwarding action, front stops, conveyor means for taking the sheets from said separating means and moving them forwardly over said feed board either singly or in constant speed stream feed relation, and a drive for said conveyor means selectively operable at constant stream feed speed or at non-uniform speed between stream feed speed and higher speeds, the stream feed speed and the non-uniform speed at the time each sheet is taken by the conveyor being the same and corresponding with the forwarding action of said sheet separating means.

2. In mechanism of the character described, a tape roll shaft, a drive shaft, a pinion loose on said drive shaft, a second pinion keyed lto said drive shaft, a yoke oscillatably mounted on said drive shaft, a gear train comprising said loose pinion, a gear on said drive shaft and a pair of gears on said yoke, means for oscillating said yoke, and shift means for operatively connecting either one of said pinions to said tape roll shaft, whereby the latter may be driven at constant stream feed speed or at non-uniform speed for single sheet feed.

3. Mechanism as defined in claim 2, comprising a cam driven at the same angular speed as said drive shaft and a cam follower operatively associated with said yoke for oscillating the same, the oscillation of said yoke by saidy cam being such as to impart rotation to said loose pinion during a portion of each cycle at the same angular speed as that of said drive shaft.

4. In mechanism for feeding sheets from a pile selectively in a stream or singly, sheet separating means having a sheet forwarding action operated at constant speed, a feed board, means for conveying sheets over said feed board, pull-out rolls cooperating with said conveying means at the rear end thereof, and drive means for said conveying means adjustable to a constant low speed for stream feeding or to a non-uniform speed for sheet by sheet feeding, said constant low speed corresponding to the speed of operation of said sheet separating means, said non-uniform speed drive operating at said low speed at the time a sheet is taken by said conveying means from said separating means and at higher speeds throughout the remainder of the cycle.

5. In mechanism for feeding sheets from a pile selectively in a stream or singly, sheet separating means having a sheet forwarding action operated at constant speed, a feed board, front stops at the forward end of said feed board, means for conveying sheets over said feed board, pull-out rolls cooperating with said conveying means at the rear end thereof, and drive means for said conveying means and pull-out rolls adjustable to a constant 10W speed for stream feeding or to a non-uniform speed for sheet by sheet feeding, said constant low speed corresponding to the speed of operation of said sheet separating means, said non-uniform speed drive operating at said low speed at the time a sheet is taken by said conveying means from said separating means and at the time said conveying means advances the preceding sheet into engagement with said front stops.

6. In mechanism for feeding sheets from a pile selectively in a stream or sheet by sheet, sheet separating means having a sheet forwarding action operated at constant speed, a feed board, front stops at the forward end of said feed board, means for conveying sheets over said feed board, pull-out rolls cooperating with said conveying means` at the rear-end of said feed board, drive means for said conveying means and pull-out rolls adjustable to a constant low speed for stream feeding or to a non-uniform speed for sheet by sheet feeding, said constant low speed corresponding to the speed of operation of said sheet separating means, said non-uniform speed drive operating at said low speed at the time the forward edge of a sheet engages said pull-out rolls and at the time the forward edge of another sheet engages said front stops, the distance between said pull-out rolls and said front stops being a multiple of the spacing of the front edges of the sheets in the stream.V

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,987,339 Hitchcock Ian. 8, 1935 2,060,800 Ehrig et al Nov. 17, 1936 2,159,147 Gumbel May 23, 1939 2,383,807 Luehrs et al. Aug. 28, 1945

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