US3438310A - Envelope-forming apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

s. M. WOODRUFF ET AL 3,438,310

ENVELOPE I April 15, 1969 -FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD Sheet Filed Aug. 27, 1965 G. M. WOODRUFF ETAL ENVELOPE-FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD April 15, 1969 Sheet Filed Aug. 27, 1965 April 15, 1969 wqjo ET AL 3,438,310

ENVELOPE-FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Aug. 27, 1965 G. M. WOODRUFF ET L 3,438,310

ENVELOPE-FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD April 15, 1969 G. M. WO ODRUFF 3,438,310 ENVELOPE'FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD April 15, 1969 Filed Aug 27, 1965 Sheet 3 3L .3 0 QQ n I 1 I: T; Q N. E\ R Q E w Ll L Q April 15, 1969 G. M. WOODRUFF E ENVELOPE-FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Aug. 27, 1965 Sheet 6 of 7 April 15, 1969 G. M. WOODRUFF ETAL 3,438,310

ENVELOPE-FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Aug. 27, 1965 Sheet 7 of '7 United States Patent US. C]. 93-63 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A web of envelope stock material is continuously fed and cut into a plurality of parallel strips of interconnected irregular envelope blanks, the blanks of adjacent strips being longitudinally offset relative to one another to accommodate glue flaps formed on the sides of each blank. The several strips are then fed through a glue flap folding station and thence through rephasing mechanism to bring the blanks of adjacent strips into longitudinal alignment to enable simultaneous lateral severance of the several strips into individual envelope blanks prior to the folding thereof into individual envelope structures. Reregistration mechanism operative subsequent to rephasing of the strips and just prior to lateral severance thereof precisely indexes each strip relative to the severing mechanism so that the severance will occur precisely on the line of junction between successive blanks of the respective strips.

Background of the invention This invention relates generally to a method and machine for producing or manufacturing envelopes suitable for containing a dry pulverulent or granular product. More particularly, the invention relates to the manufacture from a continuous web of envelope stock of adhesively bonded envelopes each formed of an irregular shaped envelope blank, the production of such envelopes being accomplished at high speed, low cost, and precise registration with predetermined areas of the web of envelope stock which is preferably pre-printed with information and/or decoration to be contained on the respective faces and closure flap of the resultant envelopes.

This invention is concerned with the manufacture of envelopes generally rectangular in configuration when completely sealed, which envelopes consist of a length of envelope stock material folded back upon itself to provide the front and rear panels or faces of the envelope, one of said panels being secured at opposite sides thereof by glue or the like to inwardly folded glue flaps formed on the sides of the other panel to thereby constitute an envelope structure sealed along three sides thereof and having its fourth side unsealed to provide an opening through which the envelope may be filled with the desired product. One of said panels is also formed with a closure flap along the edge defining said opening, which closure flap is adapted to be folded over and secured to the other panel after the envelope is filled with the desired product.

In the production of envelopes of this character there are necessarily a number of operational steps to be performed in a certain predetermined sequence. These steps include (1) cutting the web of envelope stock into a pattern defining the blanks for the respective envelopes or, at least, as in the apparatus herein disclosed, cutting the envelope stock into a strip consisting of a series of interconnected envelope blanks; (2) cutting the strip of interconnected blanks transversely to separate one blank from the other; (3) applying glue or other suitable adhesive to the inwardly folded glue flaps extending along the sides of one panel portion of each blank; and (4) folding each blank along a transverse fold line to bring the sides of one panel portion into sealing contact with the glue coated surface of the glue flaps extending along the sides of the other envelope panel.

Each of the aforesaid functions or steps of course requires appropriate mechanism or devices disposed at the proper stage of web travel through the apparatus for achieving the desired results, each said mechanism or device requiring its own driving means operated from a suitable power source. Conventional apparatus of this class is generally designed to produce the envelopes in a single series, and, in installations where the production requirements of the user call for machine output in excess of that capable of being achieved by such a single series apparatus, the production requirements can be met only by installation of additional single series machines in sufiicient numbers such as to meet the production requirements of the user.

In the machine according to the present invention the desired higher production rate or output of envelopes is achieved by designing the machine to simultaneously produce envelopes in a plurality of series, the number of such series being a matter of choice and ordinarily specified in accordance with the production requirements of the user. The machine or apparatus of the present: invention may thus be considered a multi-lane machine, each lane being represented by that portion of the machine functioning to produce a single series of envelopes, as opposed to con ventional apparatus or machines designed to produce only a single series of envelopes and which thus may be referred to as a single lane machine. By employing the multi-lane concept, equipment with the desired production capacity can be produced at considerably less equipment cost than would be the cost of the necessary number of single lane machines required to achieve the same production capacity. This follows from the fact that an equivalent number of single lane machines would necessarily represent duplication of many of the parts, the duplication of which would not be required in a multi-lane machine, these being, for example, the means for driving the mechanisms or devices for performing the essential functions of the apparatus as above set forth. Furthermore, multi-lane equipment permits considerable saving in the cost of the envelope stock material from which the envelopes are made because not only is the equivalent amount of stock material less expensive, when purchased in a single web of relatively wide dimensions, than if purchased in a plurality of webs of proportionately smaller width dimension but, also, employing the multi-lane concept minimizes the amount of scrap resulting from the envelope blank cutting operation. This minimization of scrap follows from the fact that each roll of envelope stock material preferably includes a marginal portion which is trimmed off in the formation of the envelope blank, the trimmed-off marginal portion of the web material serving: as protection against damage to the edge of the resultant blank during shipment and handling of the roll and also serving as a medium upon which may be printed appropriate lines or marks to be read by photoelectric devices associated with automatic side edge registration and feed correction devices. In the roll of envelope stock material adapted for a multi-lane machine, there still would be only two marginal areas of the web removed as scrap during the blankforming operation, a proper design of the envelope blank pattern not necessitating or requiring removal of any scrap between the several envelope blanks extending across the width of the multistrip web of stock material. A multilane machine requires considerably less floor space and also less supervisory personnel than would be required by an equivalent number of single lane machines, thus effecting a further saving in overhead expenses.

The machine herein disclosed represents an embodiment of the invention adapted for concurrently producing six series of envelopes, each series being processed by a respective one of six parallel lanes provided in the machine. A web of envelope stock material is fed to the machine from a supply roll thereof, the web being of sufficient width to enable longitudinal severance of the web into six parallel strips of the stock material, each strip representing an interconnected series of individual envelope blanks. The web is continuously drawn from the supply roll and introduced to a rotary die cutter which effects the severance of the web into the aforesaid six individual strips. The several strips of interconnected envelope blanks are all of the same identical pattern. However, since the individual envelope blanks do not have a uniform width by reason of the glue flaps projecting primarily from one panel portion thereof, the pattern of cut by the rotary die cutter is such as to render adjacent strips longitudinally offset rela tive to each other a distance equivalent to one-half the length of an individual envelope blank. By so designing the shape of the individual envelope blanks and so cutting the web with a single line of cleavage between adjacent strips, the projecting glue flap portions of one strip will fit complementally in dovetail fashion between the glue flap portions of an adjacent strip to thereby avoid waste of any web material as the result of severing one strip from another. The rotary die cutter also makes short slits into opposite edges of each strip along the dividing line between successive blanks of the strip. These slits cooperate with reregistration mechanism disposed along the feed path of the strip just prior to the envelope blank cutoff means to give assurance that the eventual cutoff of the individual blanks will be achieved precisely at the intended location on each strip marking the line of division between successive envelope blanks, the final cutoff operating to complete the lateral severance of a strip partially effected or started by the aforesaid slits made by the rotary die cutter.

After leaving the rotary die cutter the web is fed to an assembly of separaing rolls in which adjoining strips of the envelope stock material are fed through diverging feed paths in order to assure the complete severance of these strips one from another in the event that complete severance was not achieved by the rotary die cutter. From the separating rolls the respective strips, now completely severed from each other, are directed so as to converge into a common feeding plane for introduction into side (glue) flap folding mechanism which folds the flaps inwardly in overlying relation to the envelope panel portion from which they extend in preparation for subsequent application of adhesive for sealing thereto the other face or panel of the envelope blank. Preferably, before effecting the inward folding of the glue flaps a spot of glue is applied at the end of the glue flap adjacent the fold line along which the envelope blank is subsequently folded to complete the envelope structure, said end of the glue flap thus being located at one corner of the resultant envelope. The glue spot results in the bonding of the end of the glue flap with the panel portion from which it is formed upon the inward folding of the glue flap. The bonding of the glue flap with its respective panel portion has been found to provide a better seal and to prevent sifting of the product through the respective corners of the completed envelope.

Upon leaving the side flap folding mechanism the sev* eral strips, which now have a lateral clearance between one another of an extent equal to the width of the side glue flaps, are directed through a rephasing means which eliminates the longitudinal offset between the individual envelope blanks of adjacent strips and brings the respective envelope blanks of the several strips into substantial lat eral alignment. From the rephasing mechanism the severed strips proceed to a reregistration means for precisely registering or aligning longitudinally the strips in preparation for the lateral severance thereof into individual envelope blanks. The reregistering means comprises a yieldable tensioning device acting in cooperation with a pair of overfeed rolls and a pair of reregistration rolls. One reregistration roll is provided with limit studs or pins acting in cooperation with the slits cut into the side edges of each strip by the rotary guide cutter, so as to precisely register each strip with the reregistraion rolls and thereby compensate for shrinkage or stretching of the stock or any slight misalignment longitudinally of a strip in its passage from the rotary guide cutter through the various feed stages up to the reregistration means which are disposed immediately preceding the envelope cutoff means. From the reregistration means the several strips proceed immediately to the cutoff rolls which sever each strip precisely at the intended line separating one envelope blank from another which line of cut connects the inner limits of the slits cut into each strip by the rotary die cutter as aforementioned. The cutoff rolls also operate to crease each envelope blank along the lateral line separating one envelope panel from the other so that when the envelope blank is subsequently folded the lateral fold will be made at the precise point of the envelope blank which divides the front and rear panel portions thereof. From the cutoff and creasing rolls the individual envelope blanks of each strip feed directly through glue application rolls which apply glue to the exposed surface of the inwardly folded glue flaps. The individual envelope blanks then proceed to a respective pair of accelerating feed rolls which introduce the blanks into a folding mechanism which operates to fold the blank along the lateral crease line thus bringing one panel portion of the blank into contact with the adhesively coated flaps attached to the other panel portion to thus complete the envelopes structure. The folding mechanism includes compression rolls bearing on the adhesively secured portions or areas of the envelope to assure a firm adhesive bond while conveying the envelopes to further compression means, which may be belts or the like, to maintain the compression for a suitable time to assure the setting of the adhesive or glue, whereupon the envelopes are discharged to any suitable collector or stacking mechanism from which they may be removed periodically as desired for storage or insertion into an associated filling equipment as may be required.

By provision of apparatus having features operating in the manner as above briefly described and provided with the number of separate envelope-forming lanes as may be needed to meet the production requirements of the user, the desired production volume can be achieved at a considerable amount of savings over what could be the cost of utilizing an equivalent number of single lane machines required to produce the same volume. These savings result not only from avoiding unnecessary duplication of several of the machine parts but also from savings in the cost of the envelope stock material, minimization of scrap from the envelope blank cutting operation, a reduction in the number of supervisory personnel required to oversee the operation of the machine and a reduction in the amount of floor space needed by the equipment. Moreover, since various adjustments for maintaining proper alignment of the envelope stock within the machine, and the critical operation performed by the novel reregistration means and the cut-off means are all performed by machine parts or members common to all lanes, the resultant envelopes are produced with a uniformity which could not be easily or even likely obtainable through the use of a plurality of single lane machines.

It is therefore the object of this invention to improve upon machinery for producing adhesively bonded envelopes adapted for containing a dry granular or pulverant product.

It is a further object of the invention to produce envelopes of the class described at a minimum of cost.

It is a further object of the invention to produce envelopes of the type or class described which are consistently uniform in construction.

It is a further object of this invention to produce envelopes from a preprinted web of envelope stock wherein the respective envelope portions are in precise registration with the printed matter contained on said envelope stock.

Further objects of the invention, together with the features contributing thereto and the advantages accruing therefrom, will be apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 taken together are a view in side elevation and partly schematic of the entire machine;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view in elevation taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2 showing the side glue flap folding mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 and showing the reregistration, envelope cut-01f and related mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a plan view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2 and illustrating the rephasing means and as sociated mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a section of the web of envelope stock illustrating the pattern into which it is cut by the rotary die cutter to result in several parallel strips of interconnected envelope blanks;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line of 77 of FIG. 4 and illustrating on a larger scale the reregistration means and the envelope cut-off means;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 but at a slightly later point of an operating cycle;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view in section taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged detail view of one of the reregistration rolls as seen from line 1010 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged detail view of the other reregistration roll taken along line 1111 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the reregistration rolls as also seen in smaller scale in FIG. 8;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of the drive train for the reregistration rolls, cut-off rolls, glue applicator rolls, accelerating roll, folding mechanism and related parts;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a single envelope blank illustrating its orientation in preparation for entering the side flap folding mechanism;

FIG. 15 illustrates the envelope blank in perspective leaving the side flap folding mechanism;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of an envelope blank in its orientation after proceeding to the reregistration rolls and cut-off rolls;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of an envelope blank in the process of being folded to form the front and back panels of an envelope structure;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a completed envelope.

Referring now to the drawings and FIG. 1 in particular, the web of envelope stock 10 is fed to the machine from a supply roll 11 suitably fitted with a mandrel 12 supported at each end thereof in a split bearing assembly 13 provided at opposite sides of a supply roll stand 14, one of said split bearing assemblies being shown in FIG. 1.

The envelope stock may comprise any suitable material in web form and capable of providing the necessary strength and protective barrier qualities required by the nature of the product to be therein contained. The stock material may consist of various grades of paper laminated with wax and/or polymeric materials, a foil similarly laminated with waxes and/or polymeric materials, or a paper/foil laminate which may also include coatings of wax and/ or polymeric materials, the particular choice of stock being dictated by the nature of the product to be contained within the resultant envelopes. Preferably the stock material should include a laminate which may be readily printed with product identification and/or decorative matter, and the outer surfaces of the stock material should be of a type to which filue will readily adhere so as to produce a strong adhesive bond between the envelope portions secured together by glue or other like adhesive. In the present instance the envelope stock material is intended for containing a powdery, dry instant soft drink mix, and in such an application it has been found that stock material having preferred qualities is one comprised of a top sheet consisting of thirty-three lbs. printed bleached chemical pulps; a laminate consisting of eighteen lbs. blend of laminating waxes and polymeric materials; a holdout consisting of six lbs. polyethylone and a backing sheet consisting of twenty-one lbs. bleached chemical pulps.

The web 11 is unwound from the supply roll 11 by being threaded around a take-off idler roll 15 suitably mounted in the supply roll stand 14 whence it is drawn upward and over a tension control roll 16 by a cluster of feed rolls 17 supported in the rotary die cutter unit 20 of the apparatus. The feed rolls 17, driven in a manner hereinafter described, serve as the means for withdrawing the Web 10 from the roll 11 from which feed rolls the web is passed to rotary die cutting means for severing the web longitudinally into individual strips compr' ed of interconnected envelope blanks 5, see FIG. 14.

In order to provide a precise registration of the web of envelope stock with the rotary die cutting means, a number of automatically operating control devices are provided. One of these devices is a side edge register control 21 disposed near the take-off roll 15 and including photoelectric means adapted to scan a running line extending along one margin of the web, said control device controlling a motor, not shown, for laterally adjusting the supply spool 11 with respect to the supply spool stand 14 so as to continually maintain the web in lateral registration with the rotary die cutter unit 20. Another one of said control devices is a lonitudinal or running register control 22 suitably mounted on the die cutter unit 20 and having photoelectric means disposed to scan printed marks located on the opposite margin of the web 10 for maintaining longitudinal registration of the web with the rotary die cutting means by exercising a control over the speed of rotation of the feed rolls 17 in a manner hereinafter more fully described. The tension control roller 16 is a part of another automatic control device, said roller being hydraulically supported in a hydraulic system whereby pressure exerted on the roller by the web acts to control through the hydraulic system a brake, not shown, associated with the web supply spool 11 so as to maintain the tension in the web 10 between the supply spool 11 and the feed rolls 17 at a constant degree.

The web N of envelope stock material is fed from the feed rolls 17 between the cutting die rolls 25, 26 whence it proceeds to an assembly of pull-rolls 27 between which it is properly threaded and from which it passes out of the rotary die cutter unit 20 of the apparatus in the form of sparate parallel strips 10af, see FIG. 6, in accordance with the cutting pattern achieved by the rotary die cutter rolls 25, 26. Roll 25 constitutes the male die roll, and .it is mounted in bearings 28, one shown in FIG. 1, slidefitted in the frame of the die cutter unit 20 and adjustably tensionable by means of compression springs 31 and manually operable adjustment wheels 32 mounted on threaded shafts cooperating with said springs 31 to selectively control the bearing pressure between rolls 25, 26, there being one such tension control device at each end of the roller 25, one shown in FIG. 1.

The rotary die cutter unit 20 is powered in a manner which is shown somewhat diagrammatically in FIG. 1 and which power train includes a main motor 35 mounted on the front wall of the unit 20 and driving through chain 36 a pinion 37 adapted to drive, through gear 40 and a slip clutch, not shown, a pinion mounted on the shaft for one of said pull rollers 27. Pinion 37 is mounted integrally with a pinion 38 disposed in meshing engagement with a pinion 39 mounted integrally with a larger pinion 41, which latter pinion engages a pinion mounted on the shaft of the die cutter roll 26 for imparting rotational torque to the rolls 25, 26, it being understood that the shafts upon which the die cutter rolls are mounted are provided with in-termeshing gears, not shown, which serve to provide a driving force to the upper or male die roll 25, while maintaining the two cutting die rolls in precise registration at all times. The pinion 41 also meshes with a pinion 42 which is disposed in meshing engagement with the input gear 43 of a differential drive mechanism 45. The differential drive system 45 has an output gear 46 which meshes with a pinion, not shown, mounted on the shaft for one of the envelope web stock feed rolls 17.

The differential drive system for operating the feed rolls 17 enables slight variation of speed or rotational velocity of the feed rolls 17 relative to the rotation of the pull rolls 27 and the rotary die cutters 25, 26 by means of a correction feed input to the differential mechanism under control of the longitudinal or running register control device 22, heretofore mentioned. The correction input factor is entered into the differential drive mechanism 45 from a correction motor 50, under control of the photoelectric scanning device 22, said motor operating through belt 51 to drive a pinion 52 suitably coupled to a differential cage means 53, the variable drive of which affects the rotational speed of the output gear 46 to in turn alter the velocity of the feed rolls 17 accordingly, so as to maintain the web being pulled off from the spool in precise running (longitudinal) register with the rotary die cutting rolls 25, 26.

FIG. 6 illustrates the pattern by which the web 10 is severed by operation of the rotary die cutter. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the web is out along generally longitudinally extending lines of severance 55 so as to trim off opposite edges of the web 56, 57 and leave remaining a plurality of separate strips 10af, each representing a connected series of individual envelope blanks. In the present instance, six separate strips are produced by the rotary die cutter, only four thereof being shown in FIG. 6, which is broken away in the interest of saving space, and in cludes a showing of only the four strips 1&0, 10b, ftlc and 10 The trimmed-off side border 56 contains a longitudinally running darkened line, not shown, which is continuously scanned by photoelectric means associated with the web side edge register 21 to maintain the web in correct lateral registration with the rotary die cutter, and the timmed-oif edge 57 is printed at precisely spaced in tervals with dark spots, not shown, which are scanned by the longitudinal or running register control device 22 to correct the feeding velocity of the web as it passes through the rotary die cutter in the manner heretofore mentioned. In FIG. 6, the cutting-through of the web is shown by the full lines 55 which define the individual strips and the full lines 58 which are small, slightly arcuate incisions made in the side edges of each of the strips 1la-f to enable reregistra-tion of the strips in the envelope-forming stage of the machine as will be hereinafter described. The broken lines 61 indicate the lines along which the glue flaps 62 are folded inwardly upon the portion of the envelope bank from which they project during the flap-folding state of operation as hereinafter described. The broken line 63 indicates the lateral fold line upon which the respective envelope blanks are folded, after being cut off from the respective strip, to form front and rear panels or faces of the resultant envelope, the front panel in the present instance being the portion of the blank from which the major portion of the glue flaps 62 project, the dot and dash line 64 extending between the inner ends of the two opposed slits 58 being the line along which the strips are subsequently severed by the cut-off means so as to separate one envelope blank at a time from the strip in preparation for the folding operation, as will be hereinaf-ter described. It will be noted from examination of FIG. 6, that adjacent strips 1Gaf are longitudinally offset, one from the other, to an extent equal to about onehalf the length of an individual envelope blank, thus enabling the side glue flap 62 of one strip, such as 10b for example, to lie or fit in dovetail fashion between the side glue flaps 62 formed on the carton blanks of adjacent strips Ida and file. It of course will be understood that reference to a carton blank is intended to identify that portion of each strip extending between successive lines of severance as indicated by the opposed slit connecting line 64 disposed at regularly spaced increments along the length of each strip. In FIG. 6, the dotted circle 65 located at one end of each of the glue flaps 62 is intended to identify the location on each flap at which spot glue mechanism operates to deposit a spot of glue as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2 in particular, the web 10, having been divided into a plurality of individual strips 10af by the rotary die cutter, in leaving the pull rolls 27 is directed to a separating roll assembly 70 suitably mounted on the envelope-forming portion of the apparatus, which portion of the apparatus is supported by a generally inverted U-shaped framework comprised of spaced-apart vertical frames 71, 72 supporting one end, respectively of horizontal frames 73, 74, the other ends of said horizontal frames 73, 74 being supported by respective vertical frames 75, 76, see also FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. The separator roll assembly 70 includes an arrangement of idler rolls 77, 78, 79, the rolls 78, 79 being spaced apart, each being arranged to pass the respective group of alternate strips Mia-19f in divergent paths so as to insure complete severance of the respective strips in the event such complete severance was not entirely achieved by the rotary die cutter. Thus, for example, the separate strips 10a, lltlc, lite would run from roll 77 around roll 78, while strips 1%, 10d, 14] would run from roll 77 around roll 79, the respective groups of aternate strips being fed on paths of diversion planes to assure the separation between adjacent strips, the respective strips subsequently converging into a single plane in preparation for the spot gluing and side folding operation as hereinafter more fully described.

Since the overall distance of travel of the web material from the rotary die cutter to the eventual cut-off means is extremely critical in achieving close registration between the envelope blanks and the printed envelope stock from which they are cut out and formed, a take-up means is provided for making adjustments in the overall length of the feed path, which take-up means may comprise a take-up roll 81 carried in the arms of hell crank 32, the other arms of which bell crank are connected by a part which is threaded to receive a threaded adjusting rod 83 properly seated in the framework and rotatable manually to vary the distance between the take-up roll 81 and roll 77 to thereby alter the overall feed path of the web strips 10a-; and thus allow for an approximation or rough registration of the feeding material with the means for effecting the cut-off of the web and folding of the cut-off blanks to form the actual resultant envelopes.

From the separating roll assembly 70 the several strips 10a-f converge into a common feeding plane by being directed to pass over a driven roll 85 in preparation for passage through the side glue flap folding means. The roll 85, as can be seen best in FIG. 3, is suitably journaled in and disposed between the side frame plates 71, 72 of the envelope forming portion of the apparatus and is driven from the main drive motor 35, mounted on the rotary die cutter unit 20, through means which includes, see FIG. 1, a bevel gear 86 driven by pinion 42 and engaging a bevel gear 87 affixed to the end of a drive shaft 88 enclosed by a housing 89 and terminating in a gear box 91, see FIG. 13, through which it drives a transverse shaft 92. The other end of shaft 92 carries a bevel gear 93 meshing with bevel gear 94 fast on the lower end of an upright shaft 95. Shaft 95 carries a bevel gear 96 meshing with a bevel gear 97 on one end of shaft 98, which shaft is suitably journaled in the side frame plates 71, 72 and also carries the roll 85 around which runs each of the separate web strips a-f.

Preferably, before the separate web strips proceed to the side flap folding means there is provided means for applying a spot of glue to a predetermined area of each glue flap 62 so that when folded inwardly it will adhere to the panel portion of the envelope blank from which the flap projects. The precise point in the glue flap in which said spot is applied is at the leading edge thereof, as indicated by the broken line circular spot 65, see FIG. 6, which ultimately becomes a corner area of the resultant envelope when the blank is folded along the fold line 63. The means for applying said glue spot comprises a glue spot assembly 100 which includes a series of glue ejecting nozzles 101 supported by and communicating interiorly with a tubular glue conduit or manifold 102 supported at each end thereof by upright plates 103. Secured to the plates are a pair of arms 104 which are pivotally joined eccentrically to a respective gear 105, each pair of gears 105 being operatively coupled to each other by an idler pinion 106. Gears 105 are mounted on the cnds of shaft 107 extending substantially across the width of the assembly and journaled in brackets 110 secured to side frames 71, 72 so that all of said gears 105 are driven in unison. On one side of the assembly one of the gears 105 is disposed in meshing engagement with a driving gear 108 mounted on shaft 98 thus driving all gears 105 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGS. 13 and 2, which, due to the eccentric pivotal connection with the arms 104, causes a clockwise rotation of the spot glue assembly comprised of the nozzles 101 and side support plates 103. The rotational orbit of the tips of nozzles 101 is tangent to the circumference of roll 85, and the gear ratio is such that the velocity of the nozzle rotation is substantially equal to the velocity of the roll 101 so that once during each rotation of the glue spot assembly the nozzles will depoist a spot of glue on an alternate group of web strips 1051- as they pass around the roll 85. Glue is supplied to the conduit 102 through a flexible hose 109 connecting it with a glue pot 111, see FIG. 2, which is also connected by a hose 112 to a supply of air pressure to assure a proper supply of glue to the nozzles 101. In the present instance, the gear ratio is such as to cause the nozzles to execute two revolutions during the passage of one envelope blank past the glue spotting zone on the roller 85 due to the fact that adjacent envelope blanks 10af are longitudinally offset one from the other a distance equal to onehalf the length of the blank. Accordingly, in one rotation of the nozzles 101, of which there are seven in the present instance, the glue flaps of strips 10a, 10c, 10d will be spot glued by the six right hand nozzles 101 as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 13, since there will be no glue flap in position for receiving glue from the left hand nozzle 101. During the next revolution of the nozzles 101 the spot gluing will be applied to the glue flaps of envelope blanks in strips 10b, 10d, 10 there being no glue flap in position for receiving glue from the right hand nozzle 101. In order to prevent application of glue to the surface of roller 85 by the end nozzles 101 in those cycles wherein there is no flap in position to receive the glue, the surface of roller 85 is circumferentially grooved in alignment with the end nozzles 101, said groove being indicated by reference numeral 113, as best seen in FIG. 13. The application of glue spots to the glue flaps in the position indicated which becomes a corner of the respective envelope has been found to provide the resultant envelope with a better seal at said corner areas so as to prevent sifting at said corner areas when the envelope is used to contain a product having fine powdered particles.

Following the spot gluing operation, the several strips 10af proceed through a side flap folding operation performed by means best seen in FIG. 3, the envelope blanks of each strip being oriented in the position shown in FIG.

14. The side flap folding means includes a vertically oriented plate 121 across which several strips are drawn in a vertical direction, the plate extending between and being supported by the side frames 71, 72. Suitably mounted on said plate 121 in position to engage the side flaps 62 on each of the web strips 10cz-f are two series of folding plows 122, 123. It should be understood that in FIG. 3, the side flap folding means is shown without the associated strip hold-down mechanism for reasons of clarity, the hold-down mechanism normally bearing against the central surface of the web strips 1011- to maintain them in flat bearing relationship to the plate 121. The folding of the side flaps 62 is accomplished in two stages by the respective plows 122, 123, the first plows 122 engaging with side flaps serving to fold them upwardly into substantially perpendicular relationship to the remaining strip portion. The second folding stage, effected by the plows 123, complete the inward folding of the flaps 62 by folding them flat against the remaining portion of the web strips in which position the previously applied glue spot is able to bond its respective area 65 of the glue flap with the adjacent surface of the associated panel portion of the envelope blank constituting a length of the respective web strip. This stage of envelope formation is shown in FIG. 15. Disposed beyond or above the folding plows 123 are preferably disposed flap hold-down guides, also not shown for reasons of clarity, to maintain the flaps in the fully folded position long enough for the glue spot to set.

The several strips 10a-f are pulled through the flap folding mechanism just described by means of a roll 125 mounted on a shaft 126 suitably journaled in the side frames 71, 72, one end of the shaft 126 extending through the frame 71 and carrying a bevel gear 127 meshing with a bevel gear 123 carried by the vertical. drive shaft 95. Cooperating with the roll 125 are a series of individual spring biased rollers 129, see FIG. 2, of which there is one for each of the strips 10a-f, or lane of the machine, each roller 129 forming a nip with the roll 125 for receiving a respective one of the strips 10af. The rollers 129 are carried in pivotally mounted arms 130 provided with a handle 131 by which means the respective rollers can be swung away from the associated roll 125 whenever desired, such as for initially threading the strips through the machine, etc.

From the roll 125, and associated rollers 129, the several strips are passed around a driven roll 135 preparatory to rephasing the several strips to remove the longitudinal offset between individual envelope blanks of adjacent strips and to bring the individual envelope blanks of all strips Ida-f into phase wherein they are in substantial horizontal alignment, the strips now having a clearance between them due to the inward folding of the side glue flaps and thus enabling such a rephasing. The roll 135 is carried by a shaft 136 extending between and suitably journaled in the frames 71, 72. One end of shaft 136 extends through frame 71 and carries a bevel gear 137 meshing with a bevel view 138 carried by shaft 139, which shaft is driven from shaft 95 through a suitable gear box 140.

Rephasing of the several web strips 1011- is accomplished by passing one set of alternately disposed strips, which up to this point have been out of phase with the other remaining alternately disposed set of strips, through a feed path differing in length from that of the other set of strips so that when the respective strips are again brought back into a common feeding plane they will be substantially in phase, with the individual envelope blanks of each of the several strips in substantial lateral alignment with one another. The rephasing mechanism can best be seen by reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5. As the several strips leave the roll 135, the alternately disposed strips 10a, 10c, 10e are directed to bear against the bottom surface of a shoe 145, and the alternate web strips 10b, 10d, 10] are directed into bearing engagement with the undersurface of a respective shoe 146. Each of the shoes 145, 146 are supported by upright rods 147 secured at their upper ends, preferably by threads, in a support bar 148 extending between and supported by the machine frame members 73, 74. The shoes 146 are maintained at a lower level than shoes 145, the mounting rods 147 for the lower shoes 146 being longer than those for the upper shoes 145. In this manner adjacent web strips are caused to feed in diverging planes, the web strips b, 10a, 10f following a longer feed path than that for the other Web strips. The several strips proceed from the shoes in converging plane which meet when the respective strips reach yieldably mounted guide means of which there is one for each of the strips. The yieldably mounted guide means cooperate with the reregistration means, to be hereinafter described, and each comprises a pair of arcuate support arms 151, see also FIG. 7, there being one pair in each lane for a respective web strip, each pair supporting a series of rollers 152 arranged to support and guide its respective web strip over an arcuate path of approximately 90 as defined by the contour of the support arms 151. Each of the support arms 151 is pivotally mounted on a pivot rod 153 extending between and supported by the side frames 73, 74, and attached to a stud 157 joining arms 151 of each pair is an expansion spring 154 connected at its other end to a tension adjustment screw 155 threaded into a transverse bar 156 extending between and supported by the side frames 73, 74. As will be noted, springs 154 bias the guides in a counterclockwise direction around pivot rod 153, the construction enabling the guides to yield slightly in a clockwise direction so as to enable a slight overfeed of the web strips during the reregistration function next to be described, the adjusting screws 155 enabling the tension of the springs 154 to be closely regulated.

From the web strip guide means, just described, the individual web strips, with the envelope blanks oriented as shown in FIG. 16, are fed to roll means serving to draw the strips through the rephasing mechanism just described and to achieve a reregistration of the strips immediately prior to laterally severing each of the strips, as aforementioned, into individual envelope blanks. The desira bility of reregistration is due to the length of feed of the web strips from the initial die cutting operation to the final cut-off and the possibility, which is ever present in web material of this nature, of a slight shrinkage or stretch of the web material which can and does render the sections of each strip intended to serve as one envelope blank, having preprinted areas 159 as indicated in FIGS. 17, 18, slightly nonuniform, particularly in length, within a limited range of tolerance. The registration means as provided will compensate for any such nonuniformity so that the final cut-off and folding of the individual envelope blanks will be in precise register with the printed portions 159 of the respective web strips.

The means for achieving the reregistration function, in cooperation with the yieldable guides 151, includes a pair of overfeed rolls 160, 161 carried by shafts 162, 163, respectively, extending between and suitably journaled in the upper portion of vertical machine frame plates 75, 76. Rolls 161, 161) are mounted to provide a nip clearance sufficiently great so as to normally prevent the web strip feed. Roller 161, however, is provided with two diametrically opposed and axially extending insert strips 164 slightly raised from the peripheral surface of the rolls so that during roll rotation, twice during each revolution, the inserts 164 will sufficiently close the nip so as to momentarily feed the strips through the nip for a predetermined distance. The roll 160 having a surface 165 of rubber or the like serves as a back-up roll for the pair, and the circumference of both rolls 161], 161 is slightly greater than the length of two envelope blanks so that the effect of the rolls 160, 161 is to give the feeding web strips 1811- a momentary overfeed of a predetermined extent.

Disposed immediately below the overfeed rolls 160, 161

are a pair of reregistration rolls 170, 171 mounted on shafts 172, 173, respectively, mounted to provide a nip which normally engages and feeds the web strips directed therethrough, the effective circumference of the registration rolls 170, 171 being not oversize but equal to the length of two envelope blanks.

The reregistration roll is preferably coated with rubber or other material having a high coefiicient of friction, which material is formed with a series of raised surfaces or ridges 174 each aligning with the central portion of one of the strips 1tDa-d so as to engage the respective strip over the area thereof lying between the turned-in or inwardly folded glue flaps 62. The ridges 174 constitute the effective feeding surface of the roll 170 and are of a circumference equal to the length of two envelope blanks. Disposed between the ridges 174 and in diametrically opposed relation to the roll 170 are a series of insert blocks 175, see also FIGS. 9 and 12, each block being suitably secured to a milled-out section of the roll 170 by a screw 176. Each of said insert blocks 175, excepting those at each end of a series, carries a pair of registration pins or studs 177, each stud or pin 177 aligning vertically with the slits 58 cut into each Web strip by the rotary die cutter as aforementioned. Each of the pins 177 is fitted into a bore of the associated insert block 175 and is secured therein by a set screw 178. The outer end of each pin 177 is undercut along a line extending diametrically of the pin providing a limit surface 181 on the stud tip Which extends slightly beyond the circumference of the ridges 174 of roll 170, which tip is formed with a top surface 182 declining outwardly from the section of the pin parallel to the circumference of ridge 174 to the beveled outer edge 183 of the pin.

The insert blocks 175 and studs 177, mounted on what may be considered the male reregistration roll 170, cooperate with insert blocks 185 mounted in diametrically opposed relation to what may be referred to as the female reregistration roll 171 and being formed with recessed portions of generally pyramidal configuration for accommodating the protruding tips of the reregistration pins 177. The insert blocks 185 are mounted in axially extending grooves in the surface of roll 171 and are secured thereto by screws 186. The outer surface 187 of the insert block 185 in its central area is flat and thus represents a chordal segment of the roll 171. At its end areas the surface 187 is formed with a notched recess defined by converging walls 188, 189, each recess accommodating an associated one of the reregistration pins 177 on roll 170. The inserts 185 are disposed on roll 171 in position so as to meet, during rotation, with the inserts 175 on roll 170, and since the outer surface of insert 185 is fiat, the nip clearance between the respective rolls is increased to allow free movement of the respective strips 10af during those portions of the cycle when the respective inserts 175, 185 are in opposed relation. The female reregistration roll 171 has a circumference equal to that of the ridges 174 of the associated male reregistration roll which in turn is, as aforesaid, equal to a length of two envelope blanks making up the web strips 1041-7". With the reregistration rolls 170, 171 being driven at the same rpm, which provides them with the same surface velocity as the driven roll 135, aforementioned, the segment of roll 171 extending between diametrically opposed inserts 185 in cooperation with the raised ridge 174 of the other reregistration roll 170 will feed the web strip an extent slightly less than the length of one envelope blank. The outer surface of the inserts 185 which align with the ridges 174, being fiat, represent a chord in the otherwise circular contour of the roll so that during the period of rotation starting from the position in which the leading edge of an insert 185 is tangent to its associated ridge 174 until the trailing edge of said insert leaves the position of tangency with said ridge 174 the feeding nip of the rolls is increased or widened, thus rendering roll 171 ineffective to feed the web during this period.

It is during this period that reregistration is accomplished in the novel manner now to be described. Referring particularly to FIG. 7, it will be noted that an insert 164 of roll 161 reaches the position of tangency with the cooperating raised ridge 165 of the associated roll 160 and is therefore feeding the web strip at a time slightly prior to that when the leading edge of an insert 185 of roll 171 reaches tangency with its associated ridge 174 of roll 170. The overfeed rolls 160, 161, although driven at the same r.p.m. as the reregistration rolls 170, 171, are somewhat larger in circumference than the reregistration rolls and therefore have a greater surface velocity causing slack in the web strip which tends to form a loop, as at 190. This momentary overfeed of the web strip is made possible without tearing of the strips by reason of the yield provided by the support arms 151 which are rocked clockwise by the overfeed travel of the strip increasing the tension of springs 154. The inserts 164 remain in feeding engagement until shortly after the leading edge of insert 185 reaches tangency with its associated feeding surface 174 on the reregistration roll 170 at which time the web strip, due to its natural resiliency, straightens out by slipping through the enlarged nip of the reregistration rolls resulting from the flat surface 187 of the insert 185. As the reregistration pins 177 arrive at dead center position within their accommodating notched recesses in the edges of the insert 185, the position shown in FIG. 8, there is sufficient clearance between the parts to permit the free movement of the web strip, the declining surface 182 of the reregistration pins facilitating the overfeed movement of the web strip through the nip provided by the reregistration rolls. Before the reregistration pins 177 reach dead center relationship, the position of FIG. 8, the insert 164 of the overfeed roll 161 has moved beyond effective feeding position enabling free movement of the web strip within the nip of the overfeed rolls, whereupon the web strip is drawn in a reverse direction or backwards by the support arms 151 under influence of the associated springs 154. It should be understood that the phasing of the web strip with the reregistration rolls is such that the reregistration rolls is such that the portion of the strip overfed between the reregistration rolls includes the area containing the slits 58 cut into the strip by the rotary die cutter 20, as aforementioned. The backward withdrawal of the slits under influence of the spring 154 continues until or to the point whereat an edge of the web strip formed by the slit 58 limits against the undercut surface 181 of the reregistration pins 177, see also FIG. 12, to precisely register each envelope blank making up a Web strip with the reregistartion rolls 170, 171. As the rolls continue to rotate, the reregistration pins 177 are in positive engagement with the slit edges of the strips until the trailing edge of the insert block passes the point of tangency with the associated raised surface or ridge 174 of the reregistration roll 170, whereupon the surface of roll 171 in cooperation therewith firmly grips the strip to continue its advance in precisely registered relation thereto to the next forming stage wherein the strip is cut off to form individual envelope blanks.

The now precisely registered web strips feed directly to a pair of cutoff and creasing rolls 200, 201 carried by shafts 202, 203, respectively, said shafts extending between and being suitably journaled in the side frame plates 75, 76'. The roll 200 has segments of its surface cut away to provide radial surfaces for mounting a pair of diametrically opposed cutting knives 205 and a pair of diametrically opposed creasing blades 206. The surface of roll 201 which serves as a backup roll for the roll 200 is provided with diametrically opposed inserts 207 constituting anvils for the cutting knives 205 and inserts 20S constituting anvils for the creasing blades 206. The rolls 200, 201 are mounted with their peripheral surfaces forming a gap or nip of suificient clearance to allow free movement of the web strip therethrough, the cutting knives 205 and creasing blades 206- being adjustably secured to the roll 200 so as to project slightly beyond the circumference thereof to achieve the desired cutting or creasing function. The cutoff knives 205 are mounted in two sets of six each, one set within a corresponding cutaway segment of the roll, there being one knife in each set for each of the web strips 10'af, each knife being of a length sufiicient to sever the associated strip along a line 64,, see FIG. 6, connecting the slits 58 to thus completely sever the strips into individual envelope blanks. A single creasing blade 206 is mounted in its respective cutout segment of the roll 200', each blade operating on all of the web strips ;10af to form a fold inducing crease along line 63, see FIG. 6, it being understood that in FIG. 6 the adjacent strips are offset Whereas when passing between rolls 200, 201 they have been rephased and precisely registered by the reregistration rolls 170, 171 as above described. As will be noted from FIGS. 7, 8, cutoff of the web strips by the knives 205 is timed to occur just prior to the time the reregistration rolls 170, 171 momentarily discontinue feeding engagement with the web strip, the cutoff thus not interfering with the overfeed travel of the web strip through the reregistration roll nip or the subsequent drawback of the strip in achieving the reregistration function as above described. The effective circumferences of the cutoff and creasing rolls 205, 206 are, as are the circumferences of the reregistration rolls, equivalent to the length of two envelope blanks, the center to center distance between shafts 202, 203 and shafts 172, 173, respectively, being slightly less than the length of one envelope blank as is also the distance between the centers of shafts 172, 173 and shafts 162, 163, respectively.

From the crease and cutoff roll mechanism the individual envelope blanks severed from the respective strips IGa-f of envelope stock material proceed to side flap gluing means which includes a glue applicator roll 210 and a cooperating backup roll 211, said rolls :being carried by shafts 212, 213, respectively, suitably journaled in the side frames 75, 76. The glue applicator roll as can best been seen in FIG. 4 includes a series of spaced raised surfaces of rubber or the like 214 which register and engage With the intermediate portion of the respective envelope blanks for feeding them in cooperation with the backup roll 211. Between the raised surfaces 214 are disposed glue applicator discs 215, there 'being two such discs between successive raised surfaces or ridges 214 and one applicator disc 215 at each end of the series of ridges 215. Said applicator discs each register in alignment with the folded over side glue flaps of the respective envelope blanks. Each applicator disc 215 is formed with two diametrically opposed segments 216 of enlarged radius, which enlarged radius is slightly less than that of the raised surface or ridges 214. Disposed below the applicator discs 51 are individual glue reservoirs 2117 containing glue at a level into which the segments 216 dip to pick up glue and transfer it to the folded-over flaps of the respective envelope blanks. The circumference of the raised surfaces 214 of the applicator roll 210 is equal to the length of two envelope blanks so that on each revolution of the roll the inward folded side glue flaps of two successive blanks will have glue applied thereto. Glue is supplied to the reservoirs 217 by any suitable means such as a supply tank 218 which is preferably under pressure from an air pressure line 219, the tank having suitable connection 221 for supplying glue to the respective reservoirs 217. Suitable means may be provided for controlling the level of the glue in the reservoirs and the amount of glue picked up by the segments 216 of the applicator discs 215.

From the glue applicator mechanism the .individual envelope blanks feeding in parallel in each of the respective lanes of the machine proceed to accelerating roll mechanism driven at a higher surface velocity than the glue applicator rolls so as to space each blank from the succeeding one and thereby allow sufficient time for the blank folding operation to be hereinafter described.

The feed accelerating mechanism includes a driven roll 230, best seen in FIG. 13, mounted on a shaft 231 suitably journaled in the side frames 75, 76. Cooperating with the roll 230 is a series of individual rollers 232 each mounted in an individual support or cradle 233 pivotally mounted and spring-biased so as to urge its respective roller into engagement with the roll 230. The rollers 232 are spaced so as to engage a central area of the respective envelope blanks, the spacing between them allowing clearance for the inwardly folded glue flap to which glue has been applied as hereinabove described.

The accelerating roll 230 and associated rollers 232 convey the now separated envelope blanks of each lane to the envelope blank folding station whereat the leading edge of each of the envelope blanks limits against a stop 235, see FIG. 2, which preferably is adjustably mounted and extends laterally across each lane to hold the respective envelope blanks in proper position for folding along the crease line impressed into each envelope blank by the cut-off and crease roll mechanism 200, 201, aforementioned. The stop 235 is adjusted so as to maintain the crease line on the respective envelope blanks in registration with the nip between a pair of folding rolls 240, 241, mounted on shafts 242, 243, respectively, the former extending between and suitably journaled in side frame plates 75, 76. Shaft 243 is shorter and is journaled in bearings 239 pivotally supported and yieldingly urged to force roll 241 against roll 240 by any suitable means such as air cylinders 244. As can best be seen in FIG. 4, the folding rolls 200, 201 are formed with alternately spaced sections of reduced and increased diameter, the sections of reduced diameter aligning with the central portion of an envelope blank and the sections of increased diameter aligning with the side edges of the respective envelope blanks including the inwardly folded side glue flaps to which glue has been applied by the glue applicator mechanism as above described. Cooperating with the folding rolls are a series of reciprocally driven fold plungers 245, each in the form of a blade and there being one for each of the lanes of the machine, said plungers being supported by a carrier 246 or bail slidably mounted at each end thereof on a guide rod or shaft 247 supported by brackets 248 suitably secured to the side frame plates 75, 76. The carrier 246 is driven at each end thereof by means, one shown in FiG. 2, which includes links 249 pivotally connecting the carrier to rock arms 251 suitably journaled in the side frame plates 75, 76. Each rock arm 251 carries a slidable sleeve 252 pivotally connected eccentrically to a crank disc 253 carried by a shaft 254 extending between and journaled in the side frame plates 75, 76. Rotation of the crank disc 252 causes horizontal reciprocation of the carrier 246 in timed relation to the arrival of the envelope blanks at the folding station so as to engage the lateral crease on fold inducing line formed in each envelope blank and force the blank at said crease line into the nip of the folding rolls 240, 241. Preferably the free folding edge of each plunger is of substantially the same width as an envelope blank, the free edge being cut away near its side edges to avoid contact with the glue applied to the inwardly folded glue flaps as aforementioned and providing the edge of each plunger with a central portion adapted to engage the central portion of each envelope blank between the inwardly folded glue flaps and at its side edges with narrow fingers slightly shorter than the central portion of the plunger for engaging the outer edge of the envelope blank outside of the area of the glue flap to which glue has been applied. The central portion of the plunger drives the central area of the envelope blank into the gap provided by the reduced diameter sections of the folding rolls 240, 241, the side fingers of each plunger driving the folded over glue flap portion of the envelope blank up to the nip formed by the enlarged diameter sections of the foldin g rolls thereby cooperating to form a straight fold line in each envelope blank and preventing wrinkling in the 1% fold line, particularly at the edges due to the double ply thickness of the edges resulting from the inwardly folded glue flaps.

The folding plungers 245 engage the respective envelope blanks along the transverse fold line 63, see FIG. 6, along which line the envelope blanks have previously been creased by the cutting and creasing rolls 200, 201 as heretofore described, the precreasing of the envelope blank, while the several strips 10af of envelope blank material are precisely registered in the mechanism by the reregistration means heretofore described, providing assurance that the folding of the envelope blank into an envelope structure will occur at precisely the same location on each envelope blank as it passes between the folding rolls 240, 241. As the envelope blanks proceed through the nip of the folding rolls, in the attitude shown in FIG. 17, the front and back panel portions of each envelope blank are pressed together along their side edges, in the area of the inwardly folded glue flaps to which glue has been applied, by the sections of the folding rolls of increased diameter to thereby bond the front and rear panel portions of the envelope blank into an envelope structure such as illustrated in FIG. 18.

Preferably the envelopes are delivered from the folding rolls 240, 241 to a compression belt assembly 255 supported on a frame extension 257 and which may be comprised of opposed endless belts 256 adapted to maintain the glued side edge portions of each blank under compression for a suflicient time to assure setting of the glue, whereupon the envelope blanks may be delivered to any suitable stacking device 260, also supported by extension 257, for receiving the completed envelopes and storing same until they may be removed in groups or stacks periodically as needed.

The reregistration means and subsequent envelope forming means above described are driven from the common power source represented by the main motor 35,

heretofore described, through means shown schematically in FIG. 13 and including the drive shaft 139 which runs to a gear boX 265 mounted on the machine frame 73, see also FIG. 4, which gear box includes bevel gears 266, 267 driving a vertically disposed shaft 268. The lower end of shaft 268 carries a bevel gear 269 meshing with a bevel gear 270 mounted on one end of the shaft 203, which shaft, as aforementioned, carries the cutting and creasing backup roll 201. The other end of shaft 203 carries a gear 271 meshing with a gear 272 mounted on the shaft 202 which, as aforementioned, carries the cutting and creasing roll 200. Gear 271 also meshes with idler gear 273 disposed in meshing engagement with a gear 274 mounted on the shaft 173 which, as aforementioned, carries the reregistration roll 171. The gear 274 meshes with a gear 275 mounted on the shaft 172 which, as aforementioned, carries the reregistration roll 170. Gear 274 also meshes with an idler 276, meshing with a gear 277, mounted on the shaft 163 which, as aforementioned, carries the overfeed roll 161. The shaft 163 also carries a gear 278, slightly larger than gear 277, and disposed in meshing engagement with a gear of corresponding size 279, mounted on shaft 162 which, as aforementioned, carries the overfeed roll 160. By the foregoing drive means the pair of overfeed rolls 161, pair of reregistration rolls 170, 171, and pair of crease and cutoff rolls 200, 201 are each positively driven with the respective rolls of each pair turning in opposite directions so as to perform their respective functions with respect to each of the several strips 10a-f of envelope stock material as heretofore described.

The power train for the remaining mechanism of the envelope-forming apparatus includes a chain drive which is driven from the shaft 203 which, as best seen in FIG. 13, carries a drive sprocket 281 around which is entrained an endless chain 282 extending from sprocket 281 to a sprocket 283 mounted at one end of the shaft 212 which, as aforementioned, carries the glue applicator roll 210. The other end of the shaft 212 carries a gear 284 meshing with a gear 285, carried by the shaft 213 which, as aforementioned, supports and drives the glue applicator backup roll 211. Chain 282 extends thence to a sprocket 286 mounted on one end of shaft 231 which, as aforementioned, carries the accelerating roll 230. It will be noted that the diameter of sprocket 286 is somewhat less than that of the roll 230, which renders the surface velocity of the roll 230 somewhat greater than that of the glue applicator rolls 210, 211. At the other end of shaft 231 is mounted a gear 287 and a sprocket 288, the latter of which may be employed for driving the compression belt assembly 255. The gear 287 meshes with an idler gear 291, which engages 'a gear 292 mounted on one end of the shaft 242, which, as aforementioned, carries the envelope-folding roll 240. Shaft 242 also carries a gear 293 meshing with a gear 294 mounted on the shaft 243 which, as aforementioned, carries the envelope-folding compression roll 241.

The chain 282 extends from sprocket 286 around an idler sprocket 295 and thence to a sprocket 296 mounted on a short stub shaft 297 which also carries a gear 298 meshing with a gear 301 mounted on one end of the shaft 254 which extends across the width of the machine and is suitably journaled in the side frames 75, 76. The shaft 254, as aforementioned, carries the crank discs 253, one shown in FIG. 13, which drive the envelope fold plungers 245. The chain 282 continues from the sprocket 296 around an idler sprocket 303 and thence around another idler sprocket 304, thence returning to the drive sprocket 281 to complete the endless chain circuit, it being understood that the direction of chain travel between the respective sprockets is as shown by the arrow in FIG. 13 and reverse to the order in which the respective sprockets were described hereinabove.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the machine operates to produce envelopes simultaneously in a plurality of parallel lanes, each lane processing a strip of envelope stock material being continually fed therethrough and cut from a single web of said stock material which may be preprinted with information and/or decoration so located as to appear on the appropriate panel portions or flaps of the resultant envelopes. In so doing, the envelopes are formed at a high production rate in a manner which minimizes the amount of resultant scrap of envelope stock material, and due to the provision of means for precisely registering the strips of envelope stock material feeding within each of the parallel lanes, each of the resultant envelopes is formed with its panel portions registering precisely with the printing of the envelope stock material, each of the resultant envelopes regardless of from which lane they are formed being in exact uniformity with all other envelopes produced by the apparatus.

While there has been shown and described what is considered to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, it, of course, will be understood that obvious changes in form or details could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is therefore intended that the invention be not limited to the exact form herein 'shown and described nor to anything less than the whole of the invention herein disclosed, as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for forming envelopes from a continuous web of envelope stock material marked with designations for inclusion on respective panels of the envelopes to be formed therefrom, means for cutting said web into a continuous strip of interconnected envelope blanks registering with said designations, said cutting means including means for slitting opposed side edges of said strip along part of the line of juncture between successive blanks, means for severing said strip in the area thereof extending between the edge areas cut by said slitting means, and reregistration means in the feed path of said strip and disposed immediately before said severing means for precisely adjusting each blank of said strip relative to said severing means to cause the line of cut made by said severing means to extend along the remaining part of said line of juncture and thereby complete the separation of each of said blanks from said strip.

2. In an apparatus for forming envelopes from a continuous web of envelope stock material marked with designations for inclusion on respective panels of the envelopes to be formed therefrom, means for cutting said web into a continuous strip of interconnected envelope blanks registering with said designations, said cutting means including means for slitting opposed side edges of said strip along part of the line of juncture between successive blanks, means for severing said strip across the area thereof lying between the edges cut by said slitting means, means for feeding said strip from said cutting means to said severing means, and reregistration means in the feed path of said strip and disposed immediately before said severing means for precisely adjusting each blank of said strip relative to said severing means, said reregistering means including members engageable with the cut edges of said strip made by said slitting means and operative for locating said strip so that said severing means effects a line of out along the remaining part of said line of juncture to thereby complete the separation of each blank from said strip.

3. The invention according to claim 2 including means for folding each of the blanks separated from said strip into an envelope structure having said respective panels marked with said designations, and means for accelerating the feed of said blanks when separated from said strip into position for engagement by said folding means.

4. The invention according to claim 3 wherein said severing means are mounted integrally with members which also mount creasing means operative for impressing in each envelope blank a fold-inducing crease along the line of juncture between the respective panels of each blank.

5. In an apparatus for forming envelopes from a continuous web of envelope stock material, means for cutting said web into a continuous strip of interconnected envelope blanks comprising the front and rear panels of the resultant envelope structure, each of said blanks including side flaps of which a major portion extends along the opposed sides of one panel of each blank and of which a minor portion extends along the opposed sides of the other panel of each envelope blank, means for severing each of said blanks from said strip, means for folding each severed blank along the line of juncture between the respective envelope panels to form an envelope structure, means for continuously feeding said strip from said cutting means to said folding means, means disposed in the feed path of each said strip for folding said side flaps inwardly to overlying relation to both said panels, and means disposed in the feed path for said strip before said flap folding means for applying a spot of adhesive to the minor portion of each flap to bond the minor portion of said flaps to the panel along which they extend when said flaps are folded over onto said panels by said flap folding means.

6. The invention according to claim 5 including means disposed in the feed path of said strip after said flapfolding means and before said blank folding means for applying adhesive to said inwardly folded flaps on the surface of said flaps opposite to that on which adhesive is applied by the adhesive applying means disposed before said flap folding means.

7. The invention according to claim 5 wherein the means for applying a spot of adhesive to each blank includes adhesive ejecting nozzles driven around an orbital path at a velocity substantially equal to that of said strip, said path having a point of tangency with the feeding plane of said strip.

8. The invention according to claim 7 wherein the driving means for said nozzles is synchronized with the feed of said strip to dispose said nozzles at the point of tangency coincident with the disposition of the minor portions of said flaps at said point of tangency.

9. An apparatus of the character described for processing a continuous strip of flexible web material fed through a feed path having a succession of feeding stages, said strip being formed at predetermined locations along its sides with free edge portions extending along a line deviating from the length axis of said strip, means for registering said strip relative to said feed path, said registering means including a pair of registration rolls engageable with said strip to advance same along said feed path and formed to momentarily release said strip during each revolution for free movement relative to said rolls, said rolls being formed with means positively engageable with said free edges during the momentary period of release, and yieldable means disposed in said feed path before said rolls for urging said strip counter to the direction of feed by said rolls, said yieldable means imparting a reverse movement to said strip during said momentary period of release until limited by said means positively engaging the free edge portions of said strip.

10. The invention according to claim 9 including overfeed means disposed in said feed path between said registration means and said yieldable means, said overfeed means momentarily accelerating the feeding velocity of said strip prior to the release of said strip by said registration means and against the tension of said yieldable means to cause a momentary overfeed advance of said strip past said registration means upon the release of said strip by said registration means.

11. The invention according to claim 10 wherein said overfeed means comprises a pair of rolls having a surface velocity greater than that of the rolls comprising said registration means, one of said overfeed rolls having a segment of enlarged radius for momentarily during each revolution thereof gripping said strip in cooperation with the other overfeed roll to cause the momentary overfeed of said strip.

12. The invention according to claim 9 wherein one of said rolls comprising said registration means is formed with a chordal segment for causing the momentary release of said strip for free movement relative to said rolls.

13. The invention according to claim 12 wherein the other one of said rolls comprising said registration means is formed with pins projecting radially beyond the periphery of said roll and disposed circumferentially so as to intersect the feed path of said strip during the momentary release of said strip by said rolls and to limit the reverse movement of said strip under the influence of said yieldable means.

14. The invention according to claim 13 wherein the chordal segment of said one roll is formed with recesses disposed to accommodate said pins while said pins are passing through the center line between the axi of said rolls.

15. The invention according to claim 9 including means for adjusting the degree of tension imparted to said strip by said yieldable means.

16. The invention according to claim 9 wherein said yieldable means comprises a series of spaced-apart rollers supported in an arcuate-shaped pivotally mounted frame, said series of rollers defining a substantially arcuate section of said feed path directing said strip towards said overfeed means, said frame being biased in a direction tending to move said strip counter to its direction of feed by said overfeed means.

17. In an apparatus for forming envelopes from a continuous web of envelope stock material marked with designations for inclusion on respective panels of the envelopes to be formed therefrom, means for cutting said web into a plurality of continuous parallel strips of intsreonnected envelope blanks registering with said designations, said cutting means including means for slitting the opposed side edge of each strip along part of the line of juncture between successive blanks, adjacent strips being longitudinally out of phase with one another, means for severing said strips in the area thereof extending between opposed slits in the side edges cut by said slitting means, means disposed between said cutting means and said severing means for placing said strips in substantial phase longitudinally with one another, and reregistration means in the feed path of each said strip disposed immediately before said severing means and cooperating with the slits in the side edges of said strips for precisely adjusting each blank of said strips relative to said severing means to cause the line of cut made by said severing means to extend along the remaining part of each line of juncture and thereby complete the separation of each of said blanks from said strips.

18. The invention according to claim 17 wherein each of said strips includes side flap projecting from a portion of each envelope blank included in a respective strip, a side flap of each strip when initially cut by said cutting means being accommodated in and by the marginal recess formed between successive side flaps in an adjacent strip.

19. The invention according to claim 17 wherein said reregistration means includes a pair of rolls common to all of said strips.

20. The invention according to claim 17 wherein the severance of said strips into individual envelope blanks includes a pair of cut-off rolls common to all of said strips.

21. The invention according to claim 20 wherein the pair of rolls comprising said severing means includes members for impressing a fold-inducing crease in each of the envelope blanks severed from all of said strips.

22. The invention according to claim 17 including means for accelerating the feed of the envelope blanks severed from said strips into position for folding thereof into envelope structures, said accelerating means including a roll common to the blanks severed from all of said strips.

23. The invention according to claim 22 including means for folding the severed blanks accelerated into folding position, said folding means including plungers engaging each blank and carried by a reciprocating member common to the blanks severed from all of said strips.

24. The invention according to claim 23 wherein said folding means includes a pair of folding rolls common to the envelope blanks severed from all of said strips.

25. The method of forming envelopes from a continuous web of envelope stock material marked with designations for inclusion in respective panels of the envelopes to be formed therefrom, said method comprising the steps of, cutting said web into a continuou strip of interconnected envelope blanks registering with said designations, said cutting including slitting of both side edges of said strip along part of the line of juncture between successive blanks, severing said strip across the area thereof extending between the side edge areas slit during the cutting of said web into a continuous strip, and reregistering said strip relative to its feed path for precisely adjusting each blank of said strip for the severing thereof to cause the severing thereof to extend along the remaining part of said line of juncture and thereby complete the separation of each of said blanks from said strip.

26. The invention according to claim 25 wherein the reregistering of said strip is accomplished by imparting a momentary overfeed to said strip.

27. The invention according to claim 26 wherein the reregistering of said strip includes the step of momentarily reversing the direction of feed of said strip subsequent to the overfeed of said strip.

28. The invention according to claim 25 including the step of impressing a fold-inducing crease across each of said blanks subsequent to the reregistering of said strip.

29. The invention according to claim 28 including the step of accelerating the feed of each envelope blank into position for folding subsequent to severing same from said strip.

30. The invention according to claim 29, including the step of folding each envelope blank when accelerated into folding position along said fold-inducing line impressed therein.

31. The invention according to claim 25 wherein the cutting of said web of stock material proceeds along a line of cut defining side flaps for each of said envelope blanks projecting from the respective envelope panels and including the steps of, folding said side flaps inwardly into overlying relation to the respective envelope panels, and applying adhesive at a predetermined area of each flap prior to the folding thereof to cause said flaps to adhere to the corresponding areas of said panels after being folded over.

32. The invention according to claim 31 including the step of applying adhesive to said side flaps after being folded over and on the surface of said flaps opposite to that on which adhesive was applied prior to the flaps being folded over.

33. The method of forming envelopes from a continuous web of envelope stock material marked with designations to be included on the respective panels of the envelope to be formed therefrom, said method comprising the steps of, cutting said web into a plurality of continuous parallel strips of interconnected envelope blanks registering with said designations, said cut-ting including the slitting of opposed side edges of each strip along part of the line of juncture between successive blanks of a strip, said cutting proceeding along lines rendering adjacent strips longitudinally out of phase with one another, severing said strips in the area thereof between the edge areas cut during the slitting of said strips, rephasing said strips before severing same to render the blanks of all strips in substantial lateral alignment with one another, and reregistering said strips subsequent to the rephasing thereof and prior to the severing thereof by positively engaging the slits cut in the side edges of said strips for precisely adjusting each blank of said strips so that the subsequent severing thereof extends along the remaining part of the line of juncture and thereby completes the separation of each blank from said strips.

34. The invention according to claim 33 wherein the cutting of said strips proceeds along a line of cut to form side flaps projecting from the blanks of one strip and interfitting with and between side flaps projecting from the blanks of an adjacent strip.

35. The invention according to claim 33 wherein the reregistration of all said strips is effected simultaneously.

36. The invention according to claim 33 wherein the severance of all said strips is effected simultaneously.

37. The invention according to claim 33 including the step of impressing a fold-inducing crease subsequent to said reregistering simultaneously in all blanks comprising each of the respective strips.

38. The invention according to claim 33 including the step of accelerating the feed of the blanks severed from all said strips into position for the folding thereof into envelope structures.

39. The invention according to claim 38 including the step of simultaneously folding the blanks accelerated into folding position.

40. The invention according to claim 39 wherein the folding of said blanks is accomplished by members reciprocated to engage with the fold-inducing crease impressed in said blanks.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,383,264 5/1968 Welch 93,-61 X 2,163,035 6/1939 Grupe 226-16 X 3,283,629 11/ 1966 Huck 83-75 3,344,719 10/1967 Weisshuhn 93-63 3,354,798 11/1967 Winkler 93-56 FOREIGN PATENTS 588,193 12/1959 Canada 1,091,495 4/ 1955 France.

WAYNE A. MORSE, JR., Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

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