US2521435A - Card cutter and printer - Google Patents

Description

Sept 5, 1950 y w. wocKENFuss 2,521,435

l CARD CUTTER -AND PRINTER Filed March 31, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. l'lljallz Mdc/FMS TTM'Y Sept. 5, 1950 w. wocKENFuss CARD CUTTER AND PRINTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 3l, 1948 INVENTOR. ll/ckezzlM/s;

BY A

Pereira-.d sept. '57, 195o CARD CUTTER AND PRINTER William Wockenfuss, Union, N. J., assigner to Control Instrument Company, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 31, 1948, SerialNo. 18,142

This invention relates to improvements in card cutting and printing machines and has particular reference to a machine wherein repetitions data is printed on a continuous web of paper which is thereafter cut into predetermined lengths.

In statistical cards employed in the tabulating art, it is highly desirable that the columns of digits designating index points to be later punched to represent various items, be accurately printed on each card and that when this printing is accomplished on a continuous` web of paper, the latter should be properly centered with respect to the cutting mechanism which severs the cards from the web in predetermined lengths- According1y,the present invention has for one of its objects the provision of a novel arrangement wherein, as a web of paper is being printed, there is concomitantly formed thereon a means which thereafter cooperates with a cuttingA the invention as a whole and not to define the limits thereofreference being had to the appended claims fol` this purpose.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through a machine embodying the features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2- of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a continuous Web, the dot and dash lines indicating the lines of severance when'forming a statistical card;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged horizontal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 showing the printing mechanism in top plan; and

Fig. 5 is ,a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

The mechanism of the present invention is shown in its adaptation toa card cutting machine such as disclosed and claimed in the U. S. patent to K. J. Braun, 2,436,192, dated February 17, 1948, and the accompanying drawings illustrate suilicient portions of said machine to demonstrate the application of the invention thereto.

The machine of said patent may be described as comprising a supporting frame 6 which carries 2 Claims. (Cl. 101-227) at one end (not shown) a roll of paper which is fed through the machine in a continuous web 1 by means of continuously operating feed rollers 8 and 9, the former of which is positively driven, by intermeshed gears I0, from the drive shaft II having a pulley I2 thereon operated from the motor I3 From the rollers 8, 9, the web is extended downwardly in a compound loop I4 to pass through a printing mechanism to be later described, and thence upwardly through a rigid guide I5 which prevents lateral shifting of the web. From said guide, the web passes between idler rollers I6 and the vertical guide plates I1, only one of which is shown, to the cutting mechanism which operates to sever the web into predetermined lengths.

Said cutting mechanism is of the reciprocating type and `comprises a base I 8 attached to the frame 6 and which supports a, stationary die plate I9 over which the web I is fed preparatory to a cutting operation. Suitably guided by posts 20 (Fig. 2) for vertically reciprocating movement above the plate I9 is a head 2| operated from the shaft I l by pitmans 22 and rocking levers 23 connected to said head. A movable die plate 24 cooperates with the plate I9 to intermittently stop the movement of the web I through the cutting mechanism and to hold the same while it is being severed. Said plate 24 ls supported in spaced relation to the head 2I by means of screw bolts 25 about which springs 26 are coiled to normally urge the plate 24 downwardly and are compressed by the downward movement of said head relative to said plate while the latter is engaged with the web 1 during the severing operation. The cutting of the web is accomplished along the dot and dash lines of Fig. 3 by cutting blades 21 and 28 at opposite ends of the head and a third blade 29 which is diagonally disposed with respect to the blade 28 and arranged adjacent thereto so as to sever one corner of the strip, as is customary in statistical cards.

The portions of the web 'I immediately in advance of the cutting blade 21 passesover a depressible support 30 which, immediately before and after the severing operation, has its supportingsurface in the same horizontal plane as the upper surface of the stationary die plate I9. Said support 30 is forced downwardly by set screws 3l as the blade 21 cuts the web and, in so doing, the severed end of the web over the support 30 is lowered so as to abut against the adjacent end of the die plate I9 which thus temporarily stops the feed of the web into the cutting mechanism until the head 2| again rises, after the cutting&operation, to retract the screws 3 I so that. the support 30 can restore to normal position to again elevate the extremity of the web so that it may pass on to the upper surface of the plate I9. During the intervalwhen the support 30 is depressed and feed' of the web into the cutting mechanism is stopped, an excess of material will accumulate between the rollers I6 and said plate I9 due to the continuous feed of the web toward the cutting mechanism. T his excess material will form into a loop underneath the leaf spring 32 which is placed undertension by said loop and acts, when the support 3U is restored, to impel said excess of material into the cutting mechanism between the die plates I9 and 24 preparatory to another cutting operation. As soon as the die plate 24 recedes upwardly after the severing of the card, constantly driven rollers 33, operated from` the shaft I I, will discharge the cut card from between the die plates and outwardly between the discharge rollers 34 before the spring 32 acts to project the free end of the web into the cutting mechanism.

The printing mechanism is shown as comprising a housing 35 depending from the frame 6 of the machine and having in its bottom an ink reservoir 36 from which the fluid is carried upwardly by the idler rollers 31 to the printing roller 38. 'Ihe shaft of said roller carries a pulley 39 (Fig. 4) at one end thereof which is driven from the shaft II. Cooperating with the printing roller 38 is a flanged roller 40 which is positively driven by the roller 38 by means of meshed gears 4I carried on the shafts of said rollers. The loop I4 of the web 1 first passes between the roller 40 and idler roller 42 and then between rollers 38 and 40, the latter of which may be adjusted by set screws 43 at opposite ends of the shaft of the roller and mounted in the housing 35, only one of said set screws being shown in the drawing. This adjustment is utilized to vary the tension of the roller 40 against the web 1 as it is passing between the rollers 38, 4I). The roller 38 is provided on its surface with an impression plate 44 or the like having kcolumns of numerals and other indicia so that the adjacent surface of the web will be printed as it passes between the rollers 38, 40.

Upon each revolution of said rollers 38, 40, the same cooperate to form on said web a means which is subsequently employed to properly center the portion of the web in the cutting mechanism with respect to the cutting blades thereof so that when a card is cut from the web4 the printed matter thereon will be accurately it will be properly positioned as the die plate 24v vengages the same andthe cutting blades descend positioned with respect to the edges of the card.

This centering means takes the form of a series of holes 45 punched equi-distances apart in the web and located adjacent one longitudinal edge thereof and in the portion 46 which is severed from the free extremity of the web by the blades 28-29 as the card is being cut. 'To form said holes 45 in the web, the roller 38 is provided with a projecting punch 41 and the roller 40 is formed with a radially extending opening 48 in which a die 49 is mounted for cooperation with the punch 41, upon each revolution of the rollers, to punch the web and thus form said holes. Said roller 40 is also provided at its end adjacent the die with a tapered chamber 50 communicating with the opening in the die 49 so as to receive chips from the web 1 and discharge said chips outwardly from said end of the roller.

The `printing mechanism is disposed so as to print the downwardly moving portion 0f the loop Following a. cutting operation and subsequent projection of the free end of the web 1 into the cutting mechanism by the spring ,32, the head 2I again descends preparatory to the cutting of another card and before the movable die Plate 24 i engages said end of the web to hold the same while it is being cut.- a tapered centering pin 5I (Figs. 1 and 2) carried by the head 2| will enter the hole 45 in the portion of the web following that about to be severed and if the latter portion is not accurately positioned for contact by l the guide plate 24, preliminary to being cut, the tapered pin 5I entering said hole 45 will shift saidl latter portion between the die plates so that to cut the web. The blades 28, 29 sever the portion 48 which contains the hole 4l from .the free extremityoi' the web, and the card is thus completed and ejected from the cutting mechanism by the rollers 33 and 34 after the head 2l has again risen to disengage the guide plate 24 from the card.

What is claimed is: I

1. The combination with a cutting mechanism for severing predetermined lengths from a continuous web, said mechanism including a reciprocatory head having cutting elements spaced apart a distance equal to said predetermined lengths, means to continuously feed said web toward said cutting mechanism, means on said head for holding stationary that portion of the web in said cutting mechanism between said cutting elements while the last named means is continuously moving the remainder of the web and while said cutting elements are severing a predetermined length of web, and means activated by the continuous movement of said web to feed the free end thereof into said cutting mechanism after severance of a length of the web; of printing means through which the continuously moving web is fed for repetitively printing successive portions thereof, said printing means including opposed rollers which continuously grip said web throughout its passage between the same, and said rollers Y having cooperating punching means for forming openings in said web at points spaced a distance equal to that between said cutting elements and in predetermined relation to the printed portions of said web, and centering means for said web carried by said head and entering one of said openings upon each reciprocation of said head prior to the operation of said holding means. y

2. The combination with a cutting mechanism for severing predetermined lengths from a continuous web, said mechanism including a reciprocatory head having cutting elements spaced apart a distance equal to said predetermined lengths, means to continuously feed said web vated by the continuous movement of said web'to feed the freeend thereof into said cutting mechanism after severance of a length of the web; oi' printing means positioned in advance of the last named means and including cooperating rotary members between which said web is fed to repetitively print the same at spaced intervals as it is being continuously advanced and which grip said web throughout its passage between the same, coacting perforating means carried by said rotary members for forming openings in said web which are spaced apart a distance equal to that between s'aid cutting elements and formed in the spaces between said repetitive printing, and a centering pin for said web carried by one end of said head and entering one of said openings prior to the severance of said web by one of said cutting elements the other of which severs from said web a portion thereof containing the opening in advance of the one entered by said pin.

v WILLIAM WOCKENFUSS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references'are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

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