Box blank mechanism

Dec. Π, 1934. c. ruble et al 1,983,708

BOX BLANK MECHANISM Filed Nov. 2, 1931 9 Sheets-Sheet 1

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1,983,708

Dec. 11, 1934.

C. RUBLE ET AL

BOX BLANK MECHANISM

Filed Nov. 2, 1931

Sheets-Sheet 2

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Dec. 11, 1934.

C. RUBLE ET AL

BOX BLANK MECHANISM

Filed Nov, 2, 1931

1,983,708

Sheets-Sheet 3

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Dec. 11, 1934

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C. RUBLE ET AL

BOX BLANK MECHANISM Filed Nov. 2, 1931

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1,983,708

C. RUBLE ET AL

BOX BLANK MECHANISM

Filed Nov. 2, 1931

Dec. 11, 1934.

Sheets-Sheet 5

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1,983,708

C RUBLE ET AL

BOX BLANK MECHANISM

Filed Nov. 2, 1931.

Dec. 11, 1934.

Sheets-Sheet 6

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C. RUBLE ET AL

BOX BLANK MECHANISM

Filed Nov. 2, 1931

Dec. 11, 1934.

1,9.83,708

Sheets-Sheet 7

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Dec. 11, 1934. c. ruble et al 1,983,708

BOX BLANK MECHANISM

Filed Nov, 2, 1931 9 Sheets-Sheet 8

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Inventor s

Charges Ruble. Charles L. Bond, Edward P. Brake:

Dec. 11, 1934. c. ruble et al 1,983,708

X BOX BLANK MECHANISM

Filed Nov, 2, 1931 9 Sheets-Sheet 9

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Charges L.JBond.

Edward P. Brake^-.

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Patented Dec. 11,1934

1,983,708

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

1,983,708

BOX BLANK MECHANISM .

Charles Ruble, Charles L. Bond, and Edward Ϊ?.

Drake, Los Angeles, Calif., assignors, by mesne assignments, to. Miehle Printing Press and Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Hl., a corporation of Illinois . Applicattoia Norember 2, 1931, Serial N©. §72,593

S2 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for handling box blanks or cartons such as are made out of cardboard or similar material and which are capable of being folded up thereafter into box • 5 form; such blanks are usually formed by a machine in which a cylinder cooperates with a reciprocating die carrying plate. This Invention concerns a machine for receiving the sheets carrying the blanks and adhering waste material as 1° they come from the dies that cut the blanks.

In the present practice, the dies cut a number of blanks in a single sheet, each blank being adapted to form a complete box.

The dies do not completely cut the blanks out ¹⁵ of the sheet, but leave small connecting tongues of the stock, and the sheet after being cut into the blanks also carries a considerable number of small irregularly shaped pieces of waste mate. rial or snips, and usually a transverse strip of -³ waste occurs at the following edge of the sheet of blanks as it passes out of the machine. .

It is now the practice to break the blanks out of the sheets by hand. This is a laborious operation and requires the continuous services of a con²⁵ siderable number of men corresponding to a modem machine of this type producing box blanks.

The general object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type with automatic means for removing the pieces of waste material; also ³³ to provide means for breaking the blanks apart automatically as they pass through the machine.

In machines for cutting such blanks, it is the present practice to provide a plurality of dies that ³³ are substantially alike and which cut a large number of blanks from the same sheet. There is a slight variation in the dies so that blanks for the same box will not register nicely with other blanks formed from other dies. In other words, ⁴³ the dies are not so accurate as to enable the blanks to be exactly the same. For this reason, it is desirable in a machine for accomplishing the objects outliiied above to have means for laying all of the blanks formed from the same die in ⁴³ one pile and all of the blanks formed from every other die in a corresponding pile. One of the objects of our invention is to accomplish this.

In practice, there is a great variation in the size and shape of blanks, some of the blanks being “³ quite small with very small pieces of waste material left in the sheet between the corners of the blanks. This fact considerably complicates the problem of providing for the removal of these waste pieces of snips.

⁵⁵ One of the objects of our invention is to pro(CI. 93—58) · vide a machine of this type so constructed as to enable it to be used to effect the automatic removal of such waste snips although they may be relatively very small or relatively very large; in other words, to produce a machine which will ⁵have a great range of usefulness for performing its function, being substantially universal in its applicability to the removal of snips of various sizes and shapes. . _n

In the preferred embodiment of our invention, the waste pieces or snips are removed through the agency of a rotary cylinder or drum which carries means for engaging the snips and removing same from the sheet as it passes the drum. One of the objects of the invention is to provide im- ¹³proved means for cooperating with this removing means to guide the cut sheet carrying the blanks as it passes from the drum or cylinder and to facilitate disengagement of the waste pieces from the sheet.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means for mounting the pickers that remove the waste, pieces or snips so as to enable them to be properly alined with the waste pieces, whatever may be their size or shape; also to provide pickers of simple form which can be readily secured so as to correspond with the location of the snips in any “job” that is being put through the machine. . 30

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, stripper plates are employed for removing the waste pieces from pickers that pull them out of the sheets, and one of the objects of the invention is to provide means for automatically clearing the stripper plates of adhering waste.

At the rear edge of each sheet of blanks as it comes from the dies, there is a strip of waste material that extends all the way across the sheet. One of the objects of this invention is to provide means to facilitate the detachment of «his entire strip from the sheet as it passes.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved form of picker which will readily enable the pickers to be secured at any point de- 45 sired on the rotary picker member, which operates to pull the waste pieces from the sheet.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter. .

The invention consists in the novel parts and ⁵⁰combinations of parts to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efficient box blank mechanism.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification, while the ⁵⁵

1,938,708 broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation broken away illus5 trating the machine embodying our invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken substantially in the plane in which the sheets are fed forward through the machine, and particularly illustrating the parts that cooperate to 10 effect the removal of the snips and the guiding of the sheet forward after the snips are removed. This view also illustrates the means for breaking the blanks up so as to separate them from each other for delivering them to the receiving table 15 on which they are piled. This view is somewhat diagrammatic in nature, omitting unessential parts.

Figure 3 is a plan showing a portion of the edge of a sheet and indicating the way the blanks 20 are cut in the sheet, forming waste material or snips between the blanks.

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken about on the line 4—4 of Figure 2, of a diagrammatic nature and particularly illustrating details of the break25 er rolls that break the blanks apart on lines extending longitudinally with the direction of feed.

Figure 5 is a plan illustrating the general character of a blank such as may be formed on a machine of this kind.

³⁰ Figure 6 is a vertical section taken through one of the sheets as it is passing from the breaker roll and should be read in connection with Figure 19. Parts of Figure 6 are broken away.

Figure 7 is a horizontal section taken about on ³⁵ the line 7—7 of Figure 6 just above the location of the path along which the sheets are fed, certain parts being broken away. This view particularly illustrates the means for guiding the sheets and the blanks.

⁴⁰ Figure 8 is a side elevation of the outer end of the machine at which the blanks are delivered and should be read in connection with Figure 1, certain parts being broken away.

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic view correspond⁴⁵ ing to Figure 8 and illustrating graphically by the use of arrows the belt movements which take place when the carriage is making its out stroke and carrying the separated blanks, certain parts being broken away.

⁵⁰ Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 9 but showing the carriage at the end of its out stroke and about to start the return stroke.

Figure 11 is a view similar to Figures 9 and 10 _5g but illustrating belt movements which take place during the return movement of the carriage which enable the carriage to lay the blanks at different points on the receiving table.

Figure 12 is an end elevation of the machine, ₆₀ certain parts being omitted and broken away. This view may be regarded as an end elevation of the parts shown in Figure 8, and particularly illustrates the manner in which the machine operates to lay the blanks in corresponding piles. 65 Figure 13 is a vertical section taken through the machine at about the point 13—13 of Figure 9 and particularly illustrating the belt pulleys and their shafts for the supporting belts and presser belts that cooperate with the car70 riage to deliver the blanks. This view also illustrates the automatic means for stopping the movement of these belts periodically.

Figure 14 is a section taken about on the line 14—14 of Figure 13, certain parts being 75 omitted and broken away, further illustrating the means for driving the shaft that carries the presser belts.

Figure 15 is a vertical section taken about on the line 15—15 of Figure 13, certain parts being broken away and' further illustrating the 5 drive for the driving shaft of the supporting belts of the carriage.

Figure 16 is a vertical section about· on the line 16—16 of Figure 13 Illustrating a one-way drive connection which enables the presser belt 10 shaft to remain stationary in one stroke of the carriage.

Figure 17 is a vertical section taken on the line 17—17 of Figure 13 and illustrating a oneway drive connection used at this point for 15 enabling the supporting belts of the carriage to be stationary on one stroke of the carriage.

Figure 18 is a vertical section upon an enlarged scale in the feeding direction located at the picker drum and particularly Illustrating 20 the pickers and the means cooperating with the same to effect the disengagement of the snips from the sheet as it passes the drum.

. Figure 19 is a small sectional view taken in the same plane as Figure 18 and particularly il- 25 lustrating the operation of the snip strippers in stripping the snips from the pickers.

Figure 20 is a front elevation of a portion of the picker drum and illustrating a snip caught on a pair of pickers. ³⁰

Figure 21 is a side elevation of one of the finger bars which form a part of the guiding means for supporting the sheets to guide them while the pickers are removing the snips.

Figure 22 is a plan view similar to Figure 7, 35 illustrating a type of guide means for guiding the sheet from the picker member, or drum, and which is controlled to enable the waste strip at the rear edge of the sheet to pass under the guiding means when it is detached from the sheet 40 by the pickers; in this view, a portion of the sheet with the waste strip is shown broken away, and other parts in the view are shown broken away;

Figure 23, is a vertical section taken about on the line 23—23 of Figure 22, with certain 45 parts broken away, and illustrating (in full lines) the guiding means in its normal position for guiding the sheet from the rotary picker member, and illustrating the guiding means in dotted lines in a displaced position at the moment the trailing 50 edge or waste strip of the sheet is passing;

Figure 24 is a view similar to Figure 23, but illustrating another embodiment of the means for mounting the guide or guiding means, and in which the displacement of the guiding means is 55 accomplished not by rotation on an axis as in Figure 23, but by bodily shifting the guide to clear the waste strip and enable it to pass. This view shows the guide in⁷ its shifted position displaced from the picker drum, that is to say, the posi- ⁶⁰tion illustrated is not the normal position for the guide;

Figure 25 is a view similar to Figure 24, but showing the guide in its normal position; this view also illustrates an automatic wiper for wiping the ⁶⁵stripper plate which strips the waste pieces from the rotary picker member; y

Figure 26 is a detailed view showing a short portion of the face of the picker and illustrating an improved type of picker which we employ with ⁷⁸means for enabling it to be secured at any point on the periphery of the rotary picker member;

Figure 27. is a perspective of a picker removed from the picker drum and illustrating a locking wedge which cooperates with a portion of the ⁷³

1,983,708 3 picker body to lock or wedge it at any position in the picker channel or slot;

Figure 28 is a view similar to Figure 25, but looking, from the opposite side of the machine, 5 and this view further illustrates the automatic wiper for the stripper plate, and in full lines illustrates the stripper plate in its wiping position; this view also illustrates the mechanism for actuating the wiper of the-stripper plate and also illus10 trates cleaners or wipers for cleaning the channels or slots of the picker drum that carry the pickers;

Figure 29 is an elevation showing the stripper plate and a portion of the picker drum as viewed from the right side of Figure 28, the drum shaft 15 and the rock shafts for the stripper plate and wiper being broken away;

Figure 30 is a side ejevation of the upper side of the picker drum as illustrated in Figure 28, and further illustrating details of the cleaner 20 comb for clearing the picker channels of waste material; this view shows the supporting bar for the picker comb broken away.

Before proceeding to a detailed description of the invention, it should be stated that the ma25 chine to which the invention has been applied includes in its construction a rotary cylinder which cooperates with a die plate that reciprocates on the underside of the cylinder and cooperates with the cylinder to cut the sheet into 30 a plurality of blanks. These blanks, however, are not completely severed from the .sheet, but are connected to each other and to the body of the sheet by small tongues of the stock. The blanks, however, are located close together, being sepa35 rated in general merely by the width of the cutting knife of the die.

According to our invention, we take the sheet from this cylinder and pass it through mechanism which operates automatically to remove the 40 waste pieces or snips between the blanks. Further along the path of movement of the sheet, ’ the blanks are pulled apart in the feeding direction, that is to say, they- are separated on lines extending transverse to the feeding direction. 45 The blanks are also advanced past longitudinal breakers that separate the blanks on lines extending longitudinally with the feeding direction.

The blanks are then handled by the machine without disturbing their relation to each other and 50 they are advanced substantially as though they constituted a complete sheet and are then laid on a receiving table automatically so that all the hianks cut from the same die are piled in the same place.

Referring more particularly to the parts, and especially to Figures 1 and 8, 1 represents the frame of the machine which is elongated to carry the mechanism of the machine and provided at its head end with a die plate 2 that is guided to 60 reciprocate on a suitable supporting guide indicated by the lines 3, thereby passing under the lower face of a female die or impression cylinder 4 to cut each sheet of stock into the blanks. The feeding mechanism for feeding the sheets between 85 the die 2 and the cylinder 4 is not illustrated.

In Figure 1, 5 indicates a sheet extending over the upper side of the die cylinder 4 which is passing through feeding mechanism 6 of any suitable construction which directs the sheet through 70 the picker mechanism, the function of which is to remove the snips or small pieces of waste material between the blanks. In this connection, reference is had to Figure 7 in which the numeral 7 indicates a space left in the sheet by the removal ⁷⁵ of a snip.

These snips are sometimes very small, and furtheremore, they may occur at any point on the width of the sheet, and for this reason the picker means must be adapted for location at any point across the width of the sheet, and furthermore, 5 the picker devices, or spurs, that catch the snips to pull them out of the sheet, must be located so that they have a timed relation with respect to the drum or cylinder 4. In order to accomplish this, the picking mechanism preferably includes a plu- 10 rality of complementary rotary members includ-. ing picker drums' such as the drum 8. These drums virtually constitute sections of a long drum but are made in sections so as to facilitate their being adjusted longitudinally of the drum shaft. 15 9 when desired. They are all splined to the drum shaft, and the timed relation between the rotation of the drum shaft 9 and the cylinder 4 is attained by providing a chain drive including an endless chain 10 passing around sprocket wheels 20 11 and 12, the latter of which is half the diameter of the former. In other words, we provide a drive between the cylinder 4 and the shaft 9 which will insure a certain synchronism between the picker drums 8 and the cylinder. However, in this con- 25 nection it should be understood that if the sheets had already been cut in a blanking machine they could be fed through our picker mechanism by any desired automatic feeding device known to the art which would operate to feed the sheet into 30 the picking mechanism in a predetermined timed relation to the picker drums so as to insure that the pickers would properly strike the snips between the blanks.

Referring now particularly to Figures 2 and 35 18, as the sheet 5 passes through the feed mechanism 6 it passes across a suitable guide bridge 13 which delivers the sheet between the picker drum 8 and a complementary grooved presser drum or roller 14 that is substantially tangent to drum 8, 40 that is to say, it rolls on the upper face of the picker drum. The picker drum is provided with a plurality of means such as spurs 15 which are positioned at the proper points on the drum to remove the waste material such as the snip 16 45 (see Figure 3). The spurs align with the grooves 14α Of the roller 14. ;

In order to accomplish this and enable the spurs to be placed very close together measuring longitudinally on the face of the drum, we prefer to 50 construct drum 8 with a plurality of circumferential grooves 17, and in these grooves wherever necessary we attach a picker 18. Each picker consists preferably of a curved bar of very small cross section to fit in its groove 17, and each 55 picker is secured rigidly in its groove in the drum. This is preferably accomplished by anchoring one end of each picker by means of a hook 19 on its end that engages in a longitudinal flange 20 formed in a gap 21 on the face of the drum. The 60 other ends of the pickers are provided with similar hooks 22 that engage into corresponding slots 23 in a tension bar 24 located in the gap 21, and the drum is provided with means for rigidly securing this tension bar. This means preferably in- 65 eludes a pair of adjusting bolts 25 mounted in a spoke 26 of the drum and provided with a nut 27 on each stud for clamping up all of the pickers simultaneously. „

In one embodiment of the invention, each &lt;o picker is formed of a steel bar, and each picker spur 15 is formed by cutting a notch 28 in the outer face of the bar in an inclined direction and then bending the material at the notch outwardly and forwardly to form a forwardly curv- 75

1,983,708 ing hook having a sharp point 29 disposed forwardly with respect to the direction erf rotation of the drum. Before placing these notches 28 in the pickers, a layout is made of the sheet and 5 blanks so as to ascertain how far apart circumferentially these picker spurs 15 should be.

Referring to Figure 18, when the sheet 5 passes over the drum 8, each spur 15 imbeds itself in a corresponding snip 16, and as the drum continues 10 its rotation, the spur hooks the snip out of the sheet. In doing so, it breaks the small tongues 30 of stock that connect the snip to the adjoining blanks (see Figure 3).

In order to prevent the spurs from pulling the 15 sheet down around the side of the rotating drum, we provide suitable guiding means 31, and this guiding means preferably includes a plurality of long finger bars 32 which are relatively thin and which have tapered points 33 capable of passing 20 well up on the upper face of the drum nearly to the point of tangency of the drum with the sheet 5; in other words, referring to Figure 21, each finger bar has a concave lower and forward edge 34 that fits in close to the face of the drum, 25 and the upper edge 35 of each finger bar is located in line with the under face of the sheet 5 so that they will guide the sheet in a substantially horizontal line as it leaves the drum. The spaces between the bars 32 provide clearance for the 30 spurs 15 as they pass the bars.

It is necessary, however, to support the finger bars 32 rigidly as near as possible to the upper face of the drum 8. For this purpose, we provide a bridge 36 in the form of a substantially 35 horizontal plate with a downwardly bent forward end 37, and this plate on its underside is secured to a transverse shaft 38 that may be rotated adjustably so as to tip the finger bars 32 up or down to adjust them to the face of the drum. 40 The finger bars are preferably clamped between the body plate 36 and a removable cover plate 39 that conforms in general contour to the body plate 36 except that it extends somewhat nearer to the face of the drum at which point it presents 45 a slotted downwardly bent forward edge 40 that lies quite near to the spurs 15 as they pass it. The upper side of this cover plate presents a convex guide face 41 that is engaged by the sheet 5 as it comes forward.

We prefer to provide positive guiding means at this point for advancing the sheet and for this purpose we provide the guide means with a plurality of small rollers 42 which are mounted to rotate on a horizontal axis and so that their 55 upper faces project slightly above the convex face 41. If desired these rollers may be driven but we prefer to simply permit them to cooperate with feeding means located above the guide and including a roller 43 which may carry an end⁶⁰ less belt 44, the underside of which engages the upper side of the sheet.

This belt is driven by means of a driven shaft 45 mounted in a fixed position in the frame, but the roller 43 is adjustable up or down by reason ⁶⁵ of the fact that it is carried on arms 46 attached V to a fixed cross-shaft 47 mounted in the space between the upper and lower runs of the belt. This shaft 47 may be clamped in any adjusted position to adapt the feed belt 44 to different ⁷⁰ thicknesses of sheet, and also to regulate the pressure of the belt on the sheet as it passes over the rollers 42 and over the guide plate 39.

Referring again to the details of the finger bars, each finger bar is provided near its rear end with ⁷⁵ a deep notch 48 which, when the finger bar is mounted in its advanced position, engages with a transverse batten of lock bar 49. This batten 49 holds all of the advanced finger bars in position. In order to facilitate withdrawal of the bars when, necessary, their under sides may be provided with 5 notches 50 respectively.

Referring again to the guide 13. This guide is in the form of a grid with finger bars 52 projecting toward the upper face of the drum. The spaces between the finger bars 52 permit the spurs ¹⁰15 to pass up (see Figure 18). This guide is mounted on a transverse shaft 51 which is preferably constructed so as to be adjustable on its axis to adjust the tips of the finger bars 52 with reference to the face of the drum. On the outer ¹⁵side of the guide 13 it is provided with downwardly curved finger bars 53 that take the sheet 5 on their upper sides and assist in guiding the sheet between the drum 8 and the roller 14. By having these finger bars 53 turned downwardly at their ²⁰tips, the feeding action of the feeding mechanism 6 is greatly facilitated. The feeding mechanism 6 may also include a stripper 54 that strips the sheet 5 off of the cylinder 4, and guide rollers 55 and 56 may be provided between this stripper and ²⁵the guide 13.

Referring again to Figure 18, after the snip 16 is pulled out of the sheet 5, it passes down with the spur on the left side of the drum as viewed in this figure and is carried past a stripper plate 57. ³⁰This stripper plate is in the form of a comb with a plurality of teeth 58 which pre pointed at their upper ends and this comb is disposed in inclined position as indicated in Figure 18. The action of the comb is illustrated in Figure 19. In this con- ³⁵nection it should be understood that as the teeth of the comb engage the snip, the spur 15 passes in the space between the adjacent teeth, thereby removing the snip. This stripper is preferably mounted for slight rocking adjustment on a cross 40 bar or shaft 60.

The sheet 5, after passing the picker drum, is delivered by the endless belt 44 between runs 61 and 62 of belts 63 and 64. The runs 62 support the sheets and the runs 61 of the upper belts 63 45 hold the sheets in place and guide them through the breaker mechanism that breaks the blanks apart. These blanks may have any shape, for example, such as that of the blank 64α (see Figure 5). In this connection it should of course be 50 understood that the cuts between the blanks are formed in the sheet either longitudinally with the feeding direction or transverse to the feeding direction. The breaker mechanism operates to break the blanks apart along both of these lines. 55

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the sheet 5 passes between two cooperating pairs of breaker rolls that subject the sheet to a slight tension, thereby pulling the blanks apart on lines transverse to the feeding direction. 60

Referring to Figure 2, 65 and 66 constitute the first set of rolls, and 67 and 68 constitute the second set. These rolls have grooves in their faces to permit the belts 63 and 64 to pass through. The rolls 67 and 68 are driven at a slightly higher 65 speed than the rolls 65 and 66 through the medium of a relatively large driving bevel gear 69 as compared with a corresponding smaller bevel gear 70 (see Figure 1).

The bevel gear 69 is splined on its drive shaft 70 71 and the small bevel gear 70 is driven from the bevel gear 72, which in turn is driven by an endless chain 73 off of the drum shaft 9. The upper rollers 65 and 68 should be of rather light weight and pressed downwardly by coil springs 74 which ⁷⁵

1,988,708 press downwardly on the box for their journals (see Figure 1). By reason of the increased peripheral speed of the rollers 67 and 68, each sheet is subjected to a slight tension which operates to ; S pull the forward blanks away from the rear blanks as they pass between the rollers.

In order to adapt these pairs of rollers to cooperate properly with blanks of different width, we prefer to mount them so that they can be M adjusted toward or from each other. For this purpose the rollers 67 and 68 are mounted in an adjustable carriage 75, the ends of which are guided along horizontal guide bars 76 on the frame, and this carriage has a threaded sleeve ¹⁶ 77 operating as a nut on an adjusting screw 78 having a swivel connection at 79 on the frame, and having a hand-wheel 80 at its outer supporting bearing 81 for rotating it. When rotated as suggested, of course the pinion 69, which is housed in this carriage 75, slides along with the CarriageReferring to Figure 2, when the blanks separated by the breaker rolls 65 to 68 pass on, they pass between longitudinal breaker rolls 82 and 83 (see Figure 4), which break the blanks along lines longitudinal with the direction of feed. These rollers are preferably in the form of cooperating discs. The upper discs 82 have Vshaped breaking edges which are received in a ' V-shaped groove 84 to the opposite disc. The breaking action is clearly illustrated in Figure 4. These discs are adjustably mounted on their shafts to enable them to,be aligned with the lines gg of cut between the blanks.

. These discs 82 are carried- upon a common shaft 85, and the discs 83 are similarly mounted on the corresponding shaft. It is unnecessary to drive these discs, but if desired, they may be 40 driven. Furthermore, if desired, the shaft' 85 may be mounted in boxes 86 guided vertically in the frame I and pressed downwardly by springs 87. However, the weight of the shaft 85 and the discs 82 alone would probably be sufficient to iri45 sure the breaking of the blanks apart, but the springs 37 would be necessary where' the stock is unusually heavy.

The guide belts 63 and 64 are preferably continuously driven in a forward direction, as indi5° cated by the arrows in Figure 2. For this purpose they may be passed around guide pulleys 88. which may be arranged substantially as shown. These guide pulleys preferably include a tension device 89, (Fig. 1) including a tension pulley 90 ⁵⁵ which is pressed by a spring 91 in a direction to keep the upper belt taut. If desired, a similar tension device may be used on the lower belts 64, or if desired, the pulleys 92 for these belts may be mounted on a shaft 93, the ends of which are •³ adjustable downwardly where they are supported in the main frame 1.

The outer ends cf the endless belts 63. and. 64 converge toward ea'ch other as indicated clearly in Figures 9 to 11. In this way-each upper belt 63 forms an extension with a loop running around a loose pulley 94 on a. cross shaft 95 (see Figure 13), and the lower belt 64 forms an extension with. a loop running around corresponding pulleys on a shaft 96, (Fig. 1). These two shafts 95 and 96 are located one above the other and close together so that the. two sets of belts. 63 and 64 present njns 97 and 98, respectively,, that advance in the direction indicated-.by tM arrows in Figures 9 75 to 11. in this way the separated' blanks @4a are s

fed in an inclined direction downwardly to a point between the shafts 95 and 96, at which point they are delivered to a reciprocating carriage 99. This carriage is reciprocated in a timed relation in the machine through the agency of a 5 connecting rod 100 (see Figure 1) driven by a lever 101 pivotally mounted on the side of the frame and actuated through the agency of a connecting rod 102, cam lever 103 and a cam 104 on a cam shaft 105. This carriage 99 carries two 10 transverse shafts 106 and 107, the former of which is at the forward end of the carriage, and the latter of which is at the rear end. These shafts 106 and 107 carry endless belts 108 that run around guide pulleys on the shafts, and the ¹⁵upper run of these carriage belts support the under sides of the blanks as they advance (see Figure 9).

On the out-stroke of the carriage, as · illustrated in Figure 9, the belts 108 are stationary, enabling them to advance as though they were fixed on the carriage. In this way the blanks are laid on the upper sides of the supporting belts 108, being slightly separated from each other in the feeding direction (see Figure 9). ²⁵

In order to hold the blanks down on the supporting belts 108 as the carriage advances, this type of machine is provided with presser belts 109. These presser belts have lower runs 110 ' which engage the upper sides of the blanks and. ³⁰advance at the same speed as the blanks when the carriage is making its out-stroke. The outer ends of these belts 109 are guided around suitable loose pulleys on a fixed shaft 111.’ Means is ' _ provided for driving the belts 109 in this direction ³⁰on the out-stroke. For this purpose their inner ends pass around pulleys 112 (see Figure 13), which are rigidly attached to. the shaft 95. The end of the shaft 95, which is supported in the frame 1, is provided with a pinion 113 (see Fig- -® lire 13), and- this pinion meshes with a rack 114 on the carriage. On this account, as the carriage moves outwardly, the shaft 95 will be rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 0, . that is to say, in a clock-wise direction. This will drive the belts 109 in the desired direction, and at the same speed as the carriage.

On the return stroke of the carriage the rack does not rotate the shaft 95 by reason of a oneway drive connection in the pinion 113 (see Fig- S® ure 16).

Figure 10 shows the carriage at the end of its out-stroke starting back. As the carriage starts back in its return stroke, the carriage belts 108 are driven in the direction of the arrow as indicated in Figure 11; that is to say, they are driven in an outward direction or toward the delivery end of the machine, and they are driven at the speed of the carriage, so that although the carriage is moving, they substantially are stationary. The ⁶¹⁵result of this is that the blanks will be laid down in succession on a receiving table 115 (see Figure 11).

The carriage belts 108 are given this movement through the agency of shaft W6 (see Figure 13), that carries a pinion 116 meshing at its upper side with a fixed, rack 117. With this construction it will be evident that as the carriage moves 'along on its return stroke, the shaft 106 will be 70 given an anti-clock-wise movement as indicated by the arrow in Figure 11. On the outstroke of the carriage. this rotation will not occur, and the carriage belts will remain stationary as though fixed’to the carriage. This is effected by -7.6

1,983,708 shaft 132 to raise the Anger bars 134 as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 23. This displaces the Anger bars sufficiently from the drum to permit the stripper 128 impaled on the picker spurs to pass by. 5

In Figures 24 and 25, we illustrate another embodiment of this lifting mechanism for the Anger bars in which the Anger bars are raised by “parallel” movement; in other words, the entire guide is raised away from the drum in- io stead of merely rocking the tips of the Anger bark away from it. In this embodiment of the invention, we provide a rock shaft 142 corresponding to the rock shaft 132, and we operate this rock shaft as Alustrated in Figure 24 by 15 means substantially the same as that indicated in Figure 23. In this case, a greater amount of movement is necessary so that the cam 143 on the shaft 9α has a very pronounced lifting toe 154. The rear end of the guide 145 that carries 20 the Anger bars 146 is supported on a short arm 147. This arm swings in in anti-clockwise direction so as to withdraw the Anger bars 146 by a substantially longitudinal movement. Toward the forward end of each guide 145, it is 25 supported on a link 148 which constitutes independent means for supporting the guide. This link is pivotally supported at 149 on a shackle 150 carried on a cross bar 151. With this combination of parts, it will be evident that when 30 the cam roller 152 is on the normal face of the cam 143, the Anger bars 146 will lie in a forwardly thrusted position so that their forward ends project into the grooves or slots 153 of the drum 8b (see Figure 25). 35

A coA spring 154 is connected with the cam lever 155 so as to hold the Anger bars normally in their forwardly disposed position as indicated in Figure 25.

While a stripper plate such as the stripper 40 plate 57 of Figure 19 will operate satisfactorily if kept clear of the waste material, there is a tendency for the snips or pieces of them to become caught between the points of the teeth 58 in such a way as to interfere with the effective 45 functioning of the stripper teeth. In order to overcome this, we prefer to construct the stripper plate so that it can at times be displaced from the face of the drum at which time it is wiped by an automatic wiper. This construction is illus- 50 trated in Figure 28 in which 57α indicates the stripper plate and 58α indicates the teeth of the stripper plate. Uris stripper plate normally lies with the points of the teeth 58α substantially tangent to the face of the picker drum 8b of 55 Figure 28. At the proper time, the shaft 60α that carries the stripper plates 57α is rocked in a clockwise direction so as to swing the stripper plate away from the drum. As this movement occurs, the teeth 58α of the stripper are auto- e® matically wiped by a wiper 155, which is attached on a rock shaft 156 parallel with the rock shaft 60α (Figure 28). In the operating position, the upper edge of this wiper plate 155 is held against the outer face of the stripper plate 66 through the agency of a coil spring 157 that is attached to an arm 158 rigidly carried on the rock shaft 156. This wiper plate has wipers such as small blocks 159 which lie in the spaces between the teeth 58α (see Figure 25). When the *® picker plate is swung out toward the right as indicated in full lines in Figure 28, the upper edge of the wiper plate 155 will move outwardly along the outer face of the stripper plate and cause the blocks 159 to wipe out the spaces beutilizing a one-way drive connection (see Figure 17), which is built into the pinion 16.

The receiving tables 115 in machines of this type are mounted so that they gradually descend 5 and the blanks are received on the table in piles such as the piles 118 (see Figure 12).

For this purpose the ends of the frame 119 that supports the table 115 may be supported on chains 120 running over sprocket wheels 121 car10 ried on feed shafts 122. These two feed shafts may be rotated automatically through the agency of a worm 123 and corresponding worm wheel 124 for each feed shaft. The shaft 125 of one of the worms may be continuously driven, 15 and a cross driving connection employed involving a cross shaft 126 (see Figure 12) to drive the opposite worm, suitable gearing being employed as illustrated for driving the cross shaft.

In order to carry off and collect the snips which 20 are stripped from the spurs 15 by their strippers, we prefer to provide an endless conveyor belt 127 mounted in the machine (see Figure 1) at a suitable point under the drum 8. This conveyor belt ' should be driven in the direction indicated by the 25 arrow by suitable means not illustrated.

The picker and picker mechanism described above will operate effectively to disengage small pieces or snips of waste material joining the box blanks. In practice, however, the blanks may 30 not completely fill the sheet so that the rear edge of the last blank with respect to the direction of feed will coincide with the rear edge of the sheet. For this reason, there is usually a waste strip 128 (see Figure 22) that adjoins the 35 blanks such as the blank 129, which is adjacent to the falling or rear edge 130 of the sheet as it passes through the machine in the direction of the arrow. When such a waste strip occurs, its forward edge or outline 131 is irregular and ₄₀ in this forward edge has a tendency to become caught in the tapered forward ends or points 33 of the Anger bars 32 (see Figure 18). For this reason, in machines operating on sheets that have a waste strip such as strip 128, we prefer ₄₅ to provide means for shifting the Anger bars away from the face of the rotary picker member or drum just before the strip arrives at the Anger bars. In this way, the Anger bars break the last blank away from the strip by moving it ₅₀ upwardly and provide clearance for the waste strip to pass by while held on the pickers. In order to do this, we prefer to mount the guide means or guides for the sheet so that the Anger bars may be raised bodily upward or rocked 55 on an axis so as to displace them from the face of the picker drum.

Referring particularly to Figures 22 and 23, 8α indicates a picker drum, and nearly at the level of the upper face of this drum, we provide 50 a rock shaft 132 that carries a plurality of guide means preferably in the form of guide bars 133, each guide bar carrying a Anger bar-134 that projects from its forward edge so that it is normally received in one of the channels or slots _β5 135 on the picker drum. At one end of this shaft and toward one side of the machine, we provide the rock shaft 132 with a rigid arm 136 for rocking the shaft in a timed relation with respect to the drum shaft 9α. This arm is actuated at the proper instant by a link 137 con⁷⁰ nected to a cam lever 138 mounted on a pivot pin 139 on the frame of the machine and having a roller 140 that runs on the cam 141 on the shaft 9α. Just before the strip 128 arrives at the Anger bars, the cam 141 will rock the cam ⁷⁵ lever 138 toward the left and thereby rock the

1,883,708 tween the teeth 58α. When the stripper plate moves back to its normal position then spring 157 returns the wiper plate 155 to its normal position. The rocking movement of the wiper -5 shaft 60α is obtained through the medium of an arm 160 rigidly attached to it, and which extends downwardly so as to connect to a link 161, which link is operated by a rock shaft 162 (see Figure 1), which rock shaft constitutes the axis 10 for the lever 101 already described. This rock shaft 162 has a short arm 163 with a roller on its end received in a long slot 164 formed at one end of the link 161. This slot is used in order to provide for lost motion at this point. When the 15 arm. 163 travels toward the left as viewed in Figure 28, it will swing the wiper 57α away from the drum. When the arm 163 rocks in the other direction, it permits the coil spring 165 attached to the arm 160 to swing the stripper plate 57α back to 20 its normal position. The slot 164 is sufficiently long to accommodate the full swing of the arm 163 toward the right* without enabling the roller on the arm 163 to positively pull the link 161 any further than it should be moved to seat the finger 25 bars 58α against the side of the drum. In other words, this seating of the finger bars is accomplished by spring 165 and not by the movement positively received by the arm 163. The movement of the arm 163 towards the right merely 30 permits the spring 165 to reseat the stripper 57α.

It is desirable to provide means for’ keeping the slots 14α of the upper drums 14 clear of any waste material that might lodge in them. In order to accomplish this, we prefer to provide S5· each drum with a comb 166 (see Figures .28 and 30). This comb is- formed with a hub 167 enabling it to be attached to a cross bar 168 disposed over the upper drum, and the comb is provided with downwardly projecting fingers 168 4® that project into the slot. A set screw 170 may . be employed for securing the combs in place and enabling them to be adjusted to insure that the tips of the fingers 169 will- ride properly in the -grooves 14α.

in' Figure' 27,’ we illustrate the- preferred embodiment of the pickers.- In this embodiment of the pickers, they are not formed integrally on a picker bar such as,the -bar 18, but are constructed so that they can be readily placed in/ ^s® the picker channels or slots and secured at any point desired without the use of special tools. For this purpose, each of these pickers ΪΤ0 has an elongated body of substantially rectangular form to fit the cross-section of a picker slot and ⁵⁵ tills body is. provided near its rear end (with respect to the direction of rotation) with an integral spur or hook 171. The body of the picker is provided with a reduced tapered portion 172 enabling it to cooperate with a key or wedge 173 which . tapers in an; opposite direction. A . picker having these, characteristics can readily be placed at any point in the picker slot and the wedge 173 dropped into the slot and then 35 wedged up by a sharp blow delivered on the butt end 174 of the wedge. The pickers can. be loosened up and removed by applying a sharp blow or pull on the hook or spur 171.

While the picker bars 18 may be employed in -70 a large order where a very great number of similar 'sheets are to be run through the machine, on small jobs or in cases where adjustability of the pickers on the drums is especially desirable, the form of pickers shown in Figure 27 is to be ’’⁵ preferred. . The manner in which. this- picker may be wedged up in the channel is illustrated in Figure 26.

The general mode of the operation of the machine will now be briefly described.

As each cut sheet 5 passes from the die cylin- 5 der 4, it passes through the guiding mechanism 6 and thence (see Figure 2), between the drums or rolls 8 and 14. As this takes place, the drum 8 is driven so that its upper face moves in the same direction as the advancing 10 sheet and in a timed relation with respect to the sheet so that the spurs 15 located on the face of the drum engage the snips 16 and withdraw them from the sheet. These ships are later removed from the spurs as indicated in 15 Figure 19.

The sheet with the snips or waste material removed, but with the blanks still connected together by the small tongues or bridges 30 (see Figure 3), then proceeds through the machine 20 and between the runs 61 and 62· of the belts 63 and 64. These belts guide the sheet between the rollers 65 and 66, and 67 and 68, the latter pair of the rollers being driven at a somewhat higher peripheral speed than the former rollers. 25 The result of this is that the rollers 65 and 66 exert a dragging, or retarding, action on the sheet and in this way the blank between the rollers 67 and 68 will be broken away from the next following blank. The blanks broken away 30 from each other in this transverse manner then proceed between the breakei· rolls 82 and 83, which break the blanks apart on lines extending longitudinally of the feeding direction.

After this the blanks, still maintaining their 35 relation to each other with re'spect to the feeding line, move down in inclined direction between the runs S7 and 98 of the belts (see Figure’ 9), and pass between the shafts 95 and 96, at which point the blanks are laid in order on 40 the carriage belts 108 ds the carriage makes its out-stroke (see Figure 9). While the out-stroke of' the carriage is taking place, ‘the pressure belts 109 are rotated in the direction of the ar. row so that their lower runs move along at the 45 same speed as th£ carriage and hold the blanks on the supporting belts 108. When the return movement of the carriage begins, these belts 109 remain stationary through the agency of' the one-way drive connection to 'their driving SO shaft 95, and on this return stroke the supporting belts 108 of the carriage are driven in an outward direction on their upper runs, as indicated by the arrow in Figure 11, thereby counteracting the returning movement of the carriage 55 so that the upper runs of these belts virtually , stand still while the carriage is returning. In. this way as the carriage advances, the blanks are dropped off the ends of the carriage belts in order as indicated in Figure 11 so -as to form 60 a separate pile corresponding to each Mank.· By reason of this operation of the carriage' it will be evident that all the blanks that are'cut with a certain die will be laid, in the same pile. ’

This is most desirable because it insures that '65 ’ all the edges of the blanks in a certain pile will, match up accurately with each other, giving the piles a neat appearance, and enabling them to be handled with greater reliability by machines that form the boxes from the blanks. 70

In the operation of the movable guides illustrated in Figure-23, it should be understood that “these guides are rocked with their rock shaft 132 at the. instant the strip 128 at the last edge of the sheet passes them. This prevents any pos

1,708 snips, each of said pickers being in the form of a bar having hooked spurs with their points projecting in the direction in which the sheets’ &amp;dv&amp;nc6·

6. In mechanism of the kind described, the 5 combination of a drum, a plurality of pickers in the form of circumferentially disposed barron the drum and carrying spurs, means on the drum for engaging the ends of said bars, and means carried by the drum for tightening the pickers on the 10 drum.

7. In mechanism of the kind described, the combination of a picker drum having a plurality of pickers mounted thereon, said pickers comprising circumferentially disposed bars carrying 15 picker spurs, means for anchoring said pickers at one end on the drum, a tension bar engaging the other ends of the pickers, and means for supporting the tension bar on the drum.

8. In mechanism of the kind described, the 20 combination of a drum having a plurality of grooves on the face thereof, means for mounting a plurality of picker spurs in said grooves, said picker spurs having pointed hooks projecting in the same direction. 25

9. In mechanism of the kind described, a picker consisting of a circumferentially disposed bar having integral spurs formed thereon.

10. In a machine for forming box blanks cut from the same sheet, the combination of a pair 30 of opposed rollers, means for feeding the sheet carrying the box blanks between the said rollers, one of said rollers having pickers to align with the waste material between the blanks for removing the same, and a guide for receiving the 35 sheet from the rollers having a plurality of guide bars projecting forward into the space between the rollers and cooperating with the pickers to support and guide the sheet as the pickers remove the waste material. 40

11. In a machine for forming box blanks in a sheet with snips of waste material between the blanks in the sheet, the combination of means for feeding each sheet carrying blanks forwardly, a pair of opposed rollers including a picker roller 45 with means for engaging the snips to pull the same from the sheet, and a guide located on the same side of the sheet as the pickers, for receiving the sheet from the rollers and cooperating with the pickers to guide and support the sheet 50 as the pickers remove the snips.

12. In a machine for forming box blanks in a sheet with snips of waste material between the blanks in the sheet, the combination of means for feeding each sheet carrying blanks forwardly, 55 a pair of opposed rollers including a picker roller with means for engaging the snips to pull the same from the sheet, and a guide for receiving the sheet from the rollers and cooperating with the pickers to guide and support the sheet as the 60 pickers remove the snips, and feeding means located over the guide for engaging the upper face of the sheet to advance the same across the guide.

13. In a machine for forming box blanks in a sheet with snips of waste material between the 65 blanks in the sheet, the combination of means for feeding each sheet carrying blanks forwardly, a pair of opposed substantially tangent rollers including a picker roller with mejins for engaging the snips to pull the same from the sheet, a guide ⁷⁰for receiving the sheet from the rollers mounted with its forward end located adjacent the point of tangency of said rollers and cooperating with the pickers to guide and support the sheet as the pickers remove the snips, and feeding means in- ⁷⁵ i>^e8i sibility of this strip becoming entangled in the finger bars 134. In the construction shown in Figures 24 and 25, these guides do not rock on . an axis,, but swing on two axes, namely, on the . 5 rock shaft 142 and pivot pins 149 so that the finger bars 146 withdraw from the face of the drum by a substantially longitudinal movement.

The rock shaft 162 (see Figure 1 and Figure 28) operates to swing the stripper plate 57α periodi10 cally away from the drum 8α and at this time the upper edge of the wiper plate 155 travels along the teeth 58α of the stripper plate and clears them of any- adhering waste pieces or particles of waste material.

In mounting the pickers of the type shown in Figure 27 on the drum, this is accomplished by setting the picker in the slot at the point desired and then wedging it in place by means of its wedge 173.

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention described herein is only one of the many embodiments this invention may take, and we do not wish to be limited in the practice of our invention, nor in our claims, to the particular 25 embodiment set forth.