Untitled record

Application filed. August 21,1903. Serial No. 170.276. (No model.)

To all whom It may concern: .

Be it known that I, Albert B. Dick, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have in5 vented a certain new and useful Improvement in Paper-Feeding Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to provide simple yet reliable apparatus for succesio sively feeding sheets from a pile, and it is designed particularly for use in connection with printing or stencil duplicating machines, as set forth in application, Serial No. 167,901, filed in my name August 1, 1903.

In carrying out the invention a feeding device is employed, preferably in the form of two feed-rolls, to which movement, either continuous or intermittent, is imparted in any suitable manner. One of said feed-rolls co- acts with the under side of a pile of sheets to feed the lowermost sheet forward over the other roll and thence to the printing or other mechanism. Obviously means must be provided for assuring the feeding of but a single sheet at a time. In the present instance such means consist of paper-stops located above the main feed-roll and movable relatively thereto into coaction with the paper pile, so as to restrain all of the sheets of such pile 30 save the lowermost sheet from passing over the feed-roll. A plurality of such paper-stops is preferably employed arranged in the general plane of the feed-roll, but differentially operated, in order that the forward edge of 35 the sheet to be fed may be passed squarely and in correct alinement through the machine. Said paper-stops are preferably operated by a connection with the single source of power from which all the parts of the sheet-feeding device are actuated. In a preferred form the paper-stops are given an oscillating movement toward and from the direction of travel of the paper sheets, such movement being imparted by suitable cams and levers. In another em- bodiment of the invention the same end is achieved by the use of paper-stopping shoes, also actuated by suitable cams and levers and movable, as in the form first referred to, toward and from the paper pile and in the di rection of travel of the sheets thereof. These 50 forms of paper-stops operate in the same manner—i. e., to permit only the lowermost sheet of the pile to be fed through the machine, restraining the sheets lying above such lowermost sheet until each in turn becomes lower- 5 5 most in the pile, and therefore in position to be fed to the printing or other mechanism.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which—

Figure 1 is a central vertical section, and 60 Fig. 2 an end view, of a paper-feeding apparatus employing my invention. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section, and Fig. 4 an end view, illustrating a somewhat modified form of such apparatus. Fig. 5 is a central verti- 65 cal section, and Fig. 6 an end view, illustrating a further modification.

Referring first to that form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, A designates a feed-roll, preferably having a rubbered pe- 70 riphery and carried by a shaft a, mounted in the side members a' cd of the frame A'. One end of the shaft A projects through the side member cd of the frame and is here provided with the driving-sprocket cd, the gear cd, and 75 the gear cd, the purpose whereof will be presently explained. B designates an auxiliary feed-roll, here shown as provided with a fluted exterior and mounted on a shaft b, one end whereof projects through the side member a² 80 of the frame, where it is provided with a gear b', meshing with an idler-gear, which in turn meshes with the gear cd. The movement imparted to the main feed-roll A in the present case is a continuous rotary movement, al- 85 though a suitable stop device may be employed to give it intermittent movement, as clearly shown and explained in my former application above referred to, and due to the coaction of the gears cd and // the move- 90 ment of the auxiliary feed-roll B will also in the present instance be continuous. C designates a feed-board upon which is laid the pile of sheets C', the forward end whereof rests upon the periphery of the auxiliary 95 feed-roll B. D designates a crank-shaft mounted in the side members cd cd of the frame, one end thereof projecting through

749,986 the side member d, where it is provided with a gear d, meshing with a gear d!, which in turn meshes with and is driven by the main gear d. Intermediate of its ends the crank5 shaft D is provided with crank-disks d², connected by crank-pin /, with which coact the upper slotted ends of paper-stop levers E, a series of which are mounted upon the shaft E', extending between and mounted in the side io members a! d of the frame. Each paper-stop E is here shown as provided with a shaft /, journaled in bearings /', formed on the downwardly-depending ends of a bracket G, here shown as loosely mounted, by means of sleeve ¹5 g, upon the shaft D and prevented for rotating with said shaft by the shaft E', which passes through such bracket. Each of said brackets G forms a guide and support for a pair of said paper-stops F, and each paper20 stop F is provided with a pin /², coacting with the lower slotted end of its actuatinglever E. The crank-pins d³ of each pair of paper-stops are oppositely arranged in order that upon the rotation of the crank-shaft D 25 one of said paper-stops will be moved forward as the other is moved backward. Each of said paper-stops is here shown in the form of a block, which may, if desired, be of metal, those portions coacting with the paper being 30 suitably faced with rubber or other material.

The forward lower edge of each of said blocks is curved, as shown in Fig. 1, in order to bevel the edge of the pile of sheets when said pile is forced against it. In Fig. 35 1 the pile of sheets is shown as slightly withdrawn from the block for clearness. The curvature of the forward edge of such pile, however, is that which is given to it by the curvature of the blocks or stops F.

4° In practice I preferably employ two pairs of paper-stops such as those above described, one pair on either side of the machine. Also, preferably, the distance-stops will move in unison and the intermediate stops will move 45 in unison, the former moving forward as the latter are moved backward, this being determined entirely by the position of the crankpins d³. By this means the forward edge of the advancing sheet will be fed squarely to 50 the machine and kept in alinement. For the purpose of varying the relativity of the paperstops F and the feed-roll A the shaft E' may, if desired, be made adjustable in a vertical plane. This may readily be accomplished by 55 mounting the ends thereof in bearing-blocks carried by the inner faces of the side members a'd of the frame and positioned by means of screws.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, illustrating 60 a construction but slightly different from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, here the feed and auxiliary rolls may be the same as those above described, the main driving-gear H transmiting movement through the gear H' to a gear 65 d carried by the end of the shaft A', mounted in brackets d, extending upwardly from the main frame of the apparatus. Mounted upon the shaft h' is a series of cams A³, coacting with annuli A⁴, carried by the ends of reciprocating bars A⁵. The forward ends of said 70 bars A° are guided in a bearing-block I, extending from one end to the other of the apparatus and forward of which are arranged the paper-stops. These are shown in Figs. 3 and 4 as comprising blocks L, mounted in 75 housings Z, secured to the arms A. Each of said paper-stop blocks L is provided with an adjusting-screw 1! and jam-nut Z², by means whereof the relativity of such blocks and the subjacent feed-roll may be varied. Here, as 80 before, the paper-stops are arranged in pairs, and the cam movement is such as to make the distant-stops operate in unison and the intermediate stops in unison, the former moving forward as the latter are moved backward. 85

Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6, a further modification is shown herein, a cam movement very similar to that illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 being employed and paper-stops M in the form of semicircular shoes substituted 90 for the rectangular blocks F. The stops M (the operative portion of the periphery of each whereof is preferably faced with rubber) are mounted upon a shaft m, each being provided with a gear (or segmental gear) m', 95 meshing with a segmental gear id, formed on the lower end- of a lever N, pivoted upon the shaft N' and its upper end connected with the crank-arm N². Here, as in both of the cases previously referred to, the connections 100 with the driving mechanism are such that the outside paper-stops will operate in unison and the intermediate paper-stops in unison, the former being moved forward (see position Fig. 5) while the latter are moved backward. 105

The operation of the various forms of paper-stopping apparatus above described is substantially the same, certainly so far as concerns the feeding of the sheets therethrough. The paper-stops, whether in the form of oscil- no lating blocks or curved and pivoted shoes, coact with the forward edge of the pile to restrain all the sheets save the lowermost sheet from passing through the machine. The lowermost sheet, fed forward by the auxiliary 115 feed-roll and the main roll, is permitted to pass forward free of the pile before the next sheet above becomes the lowermost sheet and is in turn operated upon. The sheets as passed over the feed-roll may be delivered upon a 120 bed O or, if desired, to another pair of rolls P Q, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, the former being journaled in the side members of the frame, while the latter may take the form of gravity-rolls mounted upon arms loosely 125 pivoted to the frame to permit said rolls to bear with their entire weight upon the passing sheet in order to assure best contact of the rubbered periphery of the roll P therewith. . 130

749,986