US3220341A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 30, 1965 1.. c. PRICE, JR 3,220,341

PRINTING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 22,. 1963 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l NVEN TOR Zea/Z5 CZP/z'ce J2;

ATTORNEY5 i Nov. 30, 1965 Filed Nov. 22, 1963 L. c. PRICE, JR 3,220,341

PRINTING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Zewzk 611 7286,

M BY ATTORNEYS United States Iatent O 3,220,341 PRINTING APPARATUS Lewis C. Price, Jr., Yonkers, N.Y., assignor to Control Print Machinery Manufactures Corporation, a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 22, 1963, Ser. No. 325,713 4 Claims. (Cl. 101-35) This invention relates to marking apparatus. In particular the invention is concerned with a novel printing roll and support assembly wherein the assembly may be practically universally used, regardless of the conditions existing at the place of such use.

Prior marking roll assemblies have been subject to serious limitations because each has been designed for special application to any .given individual problem. For example, the mountings used in previous structures required separate parts for either rightor left-hand operation. Further, adjustment of the inking roll relative to the printing roll involved cumbersome adjustments, best carried out by an experienced printer. Conversion of the printing system from one type of inking roll to another usually requires replacement of the entire assembly. Further difiiculties are experienced due to unreliable mounting brackets for such assemblies. These and other troublesome matters are overcome by the present invention which includes various novel features adapted to make the device herein disclosed adaptable to any given situation with an absolute minimum of'manipulation, rearrangement of parts, or difiicult adjustments.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to produce a novel code marking assembly.

A further object of the invention is to provide a universal marking device.

Another object of the invention is to produce a marking assembly adaptable very simply to rightor left-hand operation.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a bracket assembly which assures positive and secure locking of the assembly to any given frame or framework.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a novel and useful reset mechanism for returning the printing roll to its initial zero position.

Another object of the invention is to produce an inking roll system which through the use of interchangeable parts will adapt the system for use in almost every given condition at the printing roll.

Further, an additional object of the invention is toprovide a unique mounting system for ink rolls whereby the pressure of the ink roll against the printing roll may be conveniently and quickly adjusted.

Still a further object of the invention is to produce a new printing cylinder arrangement.

These and other objects of the invention not specifically referred to but, none-the-less inherent therein may be ac- .complished by providing a pivotally mounted arm, biasing said arnr relative to a stationary supporting shaft at one end by means of a compression spring whereby the arm may be biased either in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction; the arm having mounted thereon a slide block actuated by means of a floating screw such that an inking roll mounted on the slide block may be moved toward and away from a printing roll carried by the opposite terminal end of the arm; means are also provided whereby the printing cylinder or roll may be returned to a preselected zero position by a cam and spring arrangement while at the same time rearrangement of the inking roll printing roll system can be accomplished by providing a floating transfer roll between the inking roll and printing roll.

Additionally a novel'printing roll is provided wherein 3,229,341 Patented Nov. 30, was

a series of rubber rings in contiguous relation are retained emplaced on the base cylinder by means of a cap or cover held in place by spring fingers.

The invention herein will be clearly understood by consideration of the following detailed description thereof, reference being made to the appended drawings, wherein,

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the invention partly in section showing in detail the biasing means,

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing a variation in the inking system,

FIG. 3 is a partial side sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the mounting bracket shown in FIG. 3, taken along the line 44 thereof,

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 6 is a top plan view with certain parts removed of the reset mechanism taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 is an elevational sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of a printing roll constructed according to the invention.

Turning initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that there is provided an arm 10 having one end 1 pivotally connected, as will be described to a supporting standard 2. The opposite or free terminal end of arm 1 carries a printing roll 20 journaled for rotation thereon.

Midway between the terminal ends of arm 1, there 1s provided an inking roll 3. The roll 3 is mounted on a slide block 5 (FIG. 3) which is movable along the arm by means of a screw 6 which may be turned by means of a knurled operator 7.

The fixed end 1 of arm 10 is mounted on standard 2 so as to pivot relative thereto. Thus standard 2 is provided with a lock ring 8. A suitable Oilite or other bushing member is placed on standard 2 and bears against the ring 8. The arm 10 is apertured and includes a trunnion 11 which in turn surrounds bushing 9. A further bearing member 12 in the form of a fiat washer is placed on the standard 2 and it in turn is topped by a stop member 13 which is keyed at 14 to the standard 2 being held in place by a bolt and washer 15, 16 respectively.

The pivoted end of arm 10 is bifurcated so that extending outwardly and rearwardly of the arm 10 are a pair of ear members 18 and 19 which are apertured horizontally at 21, 22 to receive a spring member 23 whlch is held in place at one end by a screw 24 threadedly engaged within the aperture 21 or 22 selectively. The opposite end of spring 23 bears against a tongue 26 whlch extends rearwardly from the stop member 13 and downwardly between the bifurcated ends 18, 19 of the arm 10. Since stop member 13 is keyed to standard 2 and the latter, in turn, is non-rotatably fixed to frame F, as will be described, it may be seen, that as shown in FIG. 1 the spring 23 continuously bases the arm 10 in a counterclockwise direction such that pressure against printing roll 20 tending to move the arm 10 clockwise will be resiliently resisted by spring 23. Thus, firm, but yielding contact, is established between the printing cylinder 20 and, for example, an article B to be printed upon as it is conveyed to the left (as seen in FIG. 1).

When it is desired to change the assembly from rightto left-hand operation, the right-hand operation being illustrated in FIG. 1, then it is quite a simple matter merely to remove the screw 24, spring 23 from the car 18 and insert same into aperture 22 in ear 19 whereupon the arm 10 will be biased in the opposite or clockwise direction. This arrangement completely eliminates the use of torsion springs as have been used in the past and also eliminates the necessity for stacking rightand left-hand parts as also was and is customary in the case of torsion spring mountings.

Turning now to FIG. 3, along with FIG. 2, it will be seen that arm 10 at approximately its midpoint, is slit longitudinally intermediate its ends. The configuration of this opening 31 is generally cruciform so as to accommodate in freely rotatable relation screw member 6 and the operator 7 therefor. One end of screw member 6 is surrounded by a spring member 33 having one end confined within the interior of operator 7 and its opposite end bearing against a cup shaped washer 34 which is seated against the end wall of the cruciform aperture 31. The opposite end of the screw 6 is fixed as by insertion into a suitable aperture in and to a movable block as by a set screw or pin member, the block having slotted sides so as to be engaged by and slidable along the side walls of slot 31. Block member 5 in turn carries a spindle 36 adapted to receive inking roll 3 as will be described hereinafter. Thus as the operator 7 is turned the threaded engagement beween itself and screw. 6 will cause the screw and slide block to move longitudinally of arm in whichever direction it is desired to move same. Because the iack screw 6 is fioatingly mounted in arm 10 it will accommodate quite readily any misalignment which might exist between block 6 and the sides of slot 31 and thus the operation of the assembly is quite smooth and free from objectional bending of the block 5 or screw 6 noticeable in most such assemblies. Thus, also, the inking roll carried by spindle 36 can readily be moved toward and away from the printing cylinder to assure correct pressure between the surface of the printing cylinder plates and the surface of the inking roll 3.

Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the mounting and reset means for the printing cylinder 20 will now be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 5, the free end of arm 10 is provided with a trunnion 41 which is vertically apertured and in turn carries bearings 43, 44 therein. Iournaled for rotation in these bearings is a shaft 45 provided intermediate its ends with a cam member 46 formed integrally therewith. The underside of the cam member 46 rests on hearing 44 while the lower end of shaft 45 is provided with a screw and washer assembly 47, 48 to retain the shaft in place on arm 10.

The cam member 46 which is eccentric with respect to shaft 45 obviously rotates therewith and is provided on its upper surface with a small pin or projection 50, which pin engages a recess provided in the printing roll or cylinder 20 so that as the surface of the cylinder is rotated by contact with an object to be printed the cylinder 20, shaft 45 and cam 46 will be rotated.

For the purpose of biasing the shaft 45 back to a zero position, the outer periphery of cam 46 is surrounded by a biasing ring 52 which ring is formed of an oil impregnated metal and which ring also is freely rotatable about cam 46. Looped around the exterior of ring 52, which is suitably grooved, is a spring member 55 having its ends attached to pins 56, 56 in turn rigidily fixed to arm 10.

It is believed apparent that as printing cylinder 20 is rotated by contact of the contact rings 20with an article (FIG. 8) and shaft 45 and cam 46 are also rotated, the high point on the cam will move toward the end of arm 20 with the consequence that spring 55 is placed under increasing tension tending to cause the cam to rotate back to the position shown in FIG. 6. Thus, if cylinder 20 is rotated less than 180 before an article clears the printing station, it will be rotated back to the position at which rotation began. However, if it is rotated more than 180 then the cam 46 will continue its rotation through a full 360 and again cylinder 20 will be returned to its start position as the spring 55 biases the eccentric cam 46 back to the position shown in FIG. 6. It is now believed apparent that a simple but highly effective reset mechanism is provided for cylinder 20.

Returning briefly to FIG. 1, it Will be noted that cyl- 4 inder 20 may be provided with a trip member 60 comprising an arm 61 spring biased by spring 62 in one direction. This trip assembly will be used where, for example, it is essential that an imprinted character register with precise accuracy on each article. The trip assembly 60 assures that, with the printing matter P positioned at any given point on the circumference of the printing cylinder 20, it will contact each item B at precisely the same point as the item contacts trip 60 and begins rotation of the roll 20.

Turing again to FIGS. 1 and 2, it has been stated that these two figures show variations in the inking system which may be accommodated by the described assembly. Thus in FIG. 1 the inking roll 3 is directly in contact with the printing surface P while in FIG. 2, the ink is transferred from inking roll 3 to the printing roll 20 via an intermediate roll 65 which is mounted as shown in FIG. 7 for universal floating movement between the ink roll 3 and cylinder roll 20 to assure positive contact between its peripheral surface and the surfaces of these respective rolls Thus, as shown in FIG. 7., intermediate roll, having a suitable ink receptive cover 66 is journaled for rotation on a shaft 67. Shaft 67 in turn is provided with squared or rectangular ends 68, 68' which ends rest in slots 69, 69' (see FIG. 2) provided at the terminal ends of bracket members 7, 70. In order to retain the ends of the shaft 67 seated in the enlarged slots 69, 69 spring members 71, 71' are looped around the ends of bracket members 70, 70- and are fixed thereto by their ends at points removed inwardly toward the center of these brackets. Brackets 70, 70 are in turn carried rotatably on a spindle member 75, by suitable lock rings 76, 77 and spacer 78 interposed between them. Thus it will be seen that transfer roll 70 will be continually spring biased toward contact with the surfaces of rolls 3 and 20 and can move in almost any direction to accommodate for variations in roll surface or perhaps some vertical misalignment between spindle 36 and spindle 75.

As has been previously stated the entire assembly may be mounted on a frame such that printing of the desired matter on articles being conveyed or moved by the marker is obtained. For the purpose of mounting the standard 2 on such a frame, for example, there is provided a unique bracket 90, illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. This bracket includes a base portion 91 and an upstanding apertured clamping portion 92. The base 91 is fixed to frame F by suitable bolts S. The clamping portion of the bracket is provided with an inclined slit 93 which leads from one side face thereof to a central opening 94 adapted to receive the member to be fastened therein, in this case standard 2. Slidably carried in the slot is a hexagonal shaped key 95 which has two of its sides engaging the walls of the slot and a further side in engagement with standard 2. The key 95 is locked in clamping engagement with standard 2 by means of a lock screw 96 which pierces the clamping portion of bracket and intersects with slot 93 and is threadedly engaged with key 95. Thus as draw screw 96 is tightened the key is drawn up the inclined slot into firm engagement with standard 2 holding same securely against any axial or rotational movement. Also associated with the assembly described is a novel printing cylinder 20 shown in detail in FIG. 8. Essentially this element consists of a hollow cylinder 101 having a central base 102 which is apertured to receive shaft member 45. The outer cylindrical wall 103 of the cylinder is surrounded by a series of concentric loosely fitting concentric annular rings 106, which rings are generally T-shaped in configuration and are type holding members constructed to function as suggested in patent 2,222,333. In order to retain these rings in place, the top of cylinder 102 is closed by a cover member 107 positioned and held in place by a plurality of spring fingers 108 which engage a reduced portion 109 of central boss 102. Thus the entire cylinder assembly can be removed as a unit from shaft 45.

For the purpose of retaining the entire assembly on shaft 45, a hand screw 110 is provided, the threaded portion thereof engaging threaded base 111 in shaft 45, and the head thereof being provided with an annular shoulder 112 bearing against cover 107.

Having described my invention in detail it will be apparent that various modifications will occur to those skilled in the art, such changes being within the spirit and scope of the invention which is limited only as defined in the claims following.

What is claimed is:

1. A printing assembly for printing on moving objects comprising a movable arm-having a free end and a pivotally mounted end; means for mounting said arm adjacent articles to be imprinted with its free end positioned so as to move toward and away from said articles; a printing member mounted on the free end thereof for contact and imprinting of said articles; the pivotally mounted end of said arm including a bifurcated portion and having journal means disposed medially of the bifurcated portion to pivotally support the arm; said mounting means including further a stationary part mounted thereon having outstanding lug disposed medially of said bifurcated portion with said lug extending between the bifurcations defining the end portion of said arm; compression spring means biased between and acting on one of said bifurcations so as to bias the other of said bifurcations against the opposite side of said lug and consequently position said free end of said arm in a direction toward the articles to be imprinted.

2. A printing assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said compression spring is adjustably biased between said lug and said one bifurcation of end portion of said arm.

3. A printing assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein the bifurcations defining the bifurcated end portion of said arm are identical and said spring is positionable selectively between either one of said bifurcations and said lug for either right or left hand operation of said assembly.

4. A printing means for articles moving in a predetermined path comprising a pivoted arm having a free end and a journaled end; printing means adopted to contact the moving articles mounted on the free end of said arm, said journaled end thereof including a pair of spaced terminal ends defining bifurcations and a mounting means disposed medially between said bifurcations; a standard receiving said mounting means, said mounting means being rotatably fixed to the standard; stop means fixed to said standard above said mounting means, said stop means including a lug member extending between said bifurcations; a compression spring mounted between and acting on said lug and one of said bifurcations and means for adjusting said spring carried by said one bifurcation whereby said arm is biased toward the articles and the other of said bifurcations engages said lug to limit said biased movement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 166,162 8/1875 Truworthy 101329 771,900 10/1904 Finch 101349 X 1,179,661 4/1916 Selah 248--230 1,702,763 2/1929 Clark 101-349 X 2,632,383 3/1953 Gottscho et a1. 101-35 2,643,609 6/ 1953 Gottscho 101-377 2,746,380 5/1956 Gottscho 10135 2,970,799 2/ 1961 Pinson 248-230 2,996,003 8/1961 Worth 101-331 3,122,993 3/1964 McKay 10135 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM B. PENN, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A PRINTING ASSEMBLY FOR PRINTING ON MOVING OBJECTS COMPRISING A MOVABLE ARM HAVING A FREE END AND A PIVOTALLY MOUNTED END; MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID ARM ADJACENT ARTICLES TO BE IMPRINTED WITH ITS FREE END POSITIONED SO AS TO MOVE TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID ARTICLES; A PRINTING MEMBER MOUNTED ON THE FREE END THEREOF FOR CONTACT AND IMPRINTING OF SAID ARTICLES; THE PIVOTALLY MOUNTED END OF SAID ARM INCLUDING A BIFURCATED PORTION AND HAVING JOURNAL MEANS DISPOSED MEDIALLY OF THE BIFURCATED PORTION TO PIVOTALLY SUPPORT THE ARM; SAID MOUNTING MEANS INCLUDING FURTHER A STATIONARY PART MOUNTED THEREON HAVING OUSTANDING LUG DISPOSED MEDIALLY OF SAID BIFURCATED PORTION WITH SAID LUG EXTENDING BETWEEN THE BIFURCATIONS DEFINING THE END PORTION OF SAID ARM; COMPRESSION SPRING MEANS BIASED BETWEEN AND ACTING ON ONE OF SAID BIFURCATIONS SO AS TO BIAS THE OTHER OF SAID BIFURCATIONS AGAINST THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID LUG AND CONSEQUENT POSITION SAID FREE END OF SAID ARM IN A DIRECTION TOWARD THE ARTICLES TO BE IMPRINTED.

Images