Improvements in or relating to sheet collating and delivery mechanism for printing and other machines

摘要

331,908. Timson, A. R. April 8, 1929. Delivery apparatus; associating- apparatus.-Sheets from a printing, cutting, perforating, folding, or other machine are delivered to a pile 5, Fig. 1, two or more at a time by reciprocating gripper mechanism. Additional sheets, of cardboard for example, fed from a pile 24, may be interposed at predetermined intervals between batches of sheets on the pile 5. The sheets 2 from a rotary printing machine are collected on a cylinder 1 from which they are forwarded by a belt 4 along an inclined table 3. Grippers 17, 18 mounted on a carriage 6 take the sheets from the table and deposit them on the pile 5. The carriage 6 has rollers 6a running on guides 7 and is reciprocated from a rocking-shaft 11 through links 9, 10. When intermediate sheets are supplied from the pile 24 they are fed in position to be taken by the grippers 17, 18 simultaneously with a set of collected sheets. The table 5 may be lowered automatically by mechanism as described in Specification 325,902. Gripper mechanism.-Each gripper comprises a fixed jaw 18 and a jaw 17 pivoted on a shaft 15. Springs 19, Fig. 5, extending between an arm 20 or the shaft 15 and a part of the carriage hold the jaw 17 either in its open or its closed position, the opening movement being limited by a stop 6c which is engaged by a member 15b pivoted to arms 15a, 15c on shafts 15, 6b respectively. Sheet-separators.-The cardboard sheets are fed from the pile 24 by suction nozzles 29 carried by levers 30 pivoted to blocks 32 which are reciprocated along horizontal rods 33 by links 34 operated from cams 35 on a shaft 36. Fixed cams 30b engage the ends of the levers 30 so as to cause the nozzles 29 to tilt and separate the top sheet. A drop-roller 25 carried by a bellcrank lever 27 oscillated by a cam 28 on the rocking-shaft 11 co-operates with a roller 26 to forward the separated sheet into position to be taken by the grippers 17, 18. A valve 37 controls the suction so as to cause the sheets to be fed at the required intervals, and may be operated by the mechanism reciprocating the suction nozzles or independently as in the arrangement described. The valve stem is connected by levers 39, 41 to an arm 42, Fig. 7, carrying a roller 43 adapted to be raised to open the valve when a sliding cam 38 is allowed to move underneath it. The cam 38 is slidable on a pivoted member 44 which drops under the control of a cam 47 on a driving shaft 48 so as to allow the cam 38 to move under spring-action beneath the roller 43 when released from the action of a retaining-catch 49. An arm 52 operated from a projection 53 on a rotating disc 54 releases the catch 49 at intervals which can be varied by means of change-gearing 57 driving the disc 54 from the shaft 48. A bell-crank lever 60 operated from a cam 62 on the shaft 48 resets the cam 38 after each operation. The suction is released by an exhaust valve 63, Fig. 1, operated from a cam 64 on the shaft 48. The height of the pile may be automatically adjusted by adapting the mechanism described in Specification 325,902.