US3675918A

US3675918A - Air cushioned kicker feed bar

Info

Publication number: US3675918A
Application number: US11596A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward V Henc; Edmund F X Devlin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-02-16
Filing date: 1970-02-16
Publication date: 1972-07-11
Anticipated expiration: 1989-07-11
Also published as: JPS541986B1

Abstract

A feed bar assembly for apparatus for performing operations on sheet material including a feed station wherein a plurality of sheets are supported in a stack and means for reciprocating the feed bar to advance single sheets to a pair of feed rolls comprising an elongated bar and a plurality of feed fingers mounted along the length of said bar, each of said fingers including a pivotally mounted plate member and a feed clip mounted on said plate member having a pickup portion adapted to engage an edge of one sheet at the bottom of the stack to advance the same to the feed rolls and actuator means adapted to pivot said feed fingers upwardly to insure positive engagement of each of said feed fingers with the edge of one sheet.

Description

United States Patent Henc et a].

[ July 11, 1972 [54] AIR CUSHIONED KICKER FEED BAR [72] Inventors: Edward V. Henc, 302 Netherington Drive, Broomall, Pa. 19008; Edmund F. X. Devlin, Manoa, Pa.

[73] Assignee: said Henc, by sald Devlin [22] Filed: Feb. 16, 1970 [21] Appl. No: 11,596

Primary Examiner-Joseph Wegbreit Attorney-Howson and Howson [5 7] ABSTRACT A feed bar assembly for apparatus for performing operations on sheet material including a feed station wherein a plurality of sheets are supported in a stack and means for reciprocating the feed bar to advance single sheets to a pair of feed rolls comprising an elongated bar and a plurality of feed fingers mounted along the length of said bar, each of said fingers including a pivotally mounted plate member and a feed clip mounted on said plate member having a pickup portion adapted to engage an edge of one sheet at the bottom of the stack to advance the same to the feed rolls and actuator means adapted to pivot said feed fingers upwardly to insure positive engagement of each of said feed fingers with the edge of one sheet.

11 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures FIG. I.

INVENTORI EDWARD V. HENC EDMUND F.X. DEVLIN ATTYS P'A'TENTEnJuL 11 I972 3 6 75.918

SHEET 3 BF 4 m M V FIGS. 5

EDWARD V. HENC KY EDMUND EX. DEVLIN W2? ATTYS PATENT'EDJUL 11 1272 3, 675 9 l 8 SHEET u 0F 4 i Ta INVENTOR.

EDWARD V. HENC EDMUND F X. DEVLIN ATTYS AIR CUSI'IIONED KICKER FEED BAR The present invention relates to improvements in machines for performing cutting, creasing, printing, embossing or like operations on sheet materials such as corrugated board or the like. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an improvement in the blank feeding mechanism for such machines.

Typically, these machines comprise a main frame having a feed table at one end thereof for a plurality of work sheets or blanks arranged in a stack, means for maintaining the box blanks in a vertical stack and feed means in the form of a feed bar adapted for reciprocating movement between the rear edge of the stack and a point short of the front stops confining the stack for advancing the lowermost sheet from the stack to a pair of feed rolls which in turn advance a single sheet at a time through the machine for other operations such as cutting, creasing, printing, embossing or like operations.

The conventional feed bar which is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,004,456 and 1,797,692 generally comprises a plurality of resilient fingers which are generally biased to extend rearwardly and upwardly at an angle from the forward edge of the bar. Each of the fingers has a concave tip at its upper rear end which at its forward edge forms a shoulder for engaging the rear edge of the lowermost sheet of the stack. In the fully retracted position of the bar, the fingers are disposed so that the shoulders lie rearwardly of the rear edge of the stack. Accordingly, upon forward movement of the bar from this position, the shoulders of the fingers engage with the rear edge of the lowermost sheet and slide a sheet forwardly from under the stack and into the nip of the feed rolls. Upon retractive movement of the bar the upper concave faces of the tip elements ride freely on the underside of the overlying and now lowermost sheet of the stack.

While the conventional feed bar arrangement described above in most cases has been satisfactory for feeding sheet material, in some instances where the sheet material is warped, it has been found that the rearmost edge of the sheet is not engaged by all of the spring fingers, and consequently, during feeding movement of the feed bar, the sheet cocks and will in some instances jam the machine. This, of course, is undesirable since it interrupts operation of the machine and oftentimes the task of removing the cocked sheet from the machine is time consuming. In some instances it has been found that improper feeding can result in damage to parts of the machine which, of course, results in further down time on the machine for repair purposes.

In apparatus having the conventional spring biased feed fingers it has been found that in some instances not all of the feed fingers engage the rear edge of the blank during the feeding by reason of the fact that the sheet material may be slightly warped. As a result of this, the sheet is slightly cocked or skewed during the feeding operation and is not in proper registry during passage through the apparatus. This is undesirable for the reason that improper registry or alignment during traverse of the blank through the machine may result in misalignment of the corresponding blanks and/or printing on a blank adapted to be formed into a box or the like. If the misalignment is severe enough, it can result in the blank being rejected, or at best it is an inferior product.

The present invention is directed to an improvement in the feed mechanisms for machines of the above type which incorporates novel features of construction and arrangement eliminating the problem of jamming caused by misfeeding of box blanks. To this end, in accordance with the present invention, the feed bar comprises a plurality of pivotally mounted feed fingers, each of the feed fingers having a hydraulically actuatable system for actuating the feed fingers into positive pressure engaging relation with the lowermost blank on the stack at the feed table. Each of the hydraulic actuators is operated from a common source whereby the heel of the radiused feed clip follows the contour of the lowermost sheet on the stack to provide positive actuation by all of the feed fingers and eliminate the problem of cocking and subsequent jamming of the machine caused, for example, by a warped blank. In accordance with the present invention, the pickup face of all of the feed fingers engage the rear edge of a blank irrespective of whether the blank is warped thereby insuring positive or proper registry of the sheet during movement through the apparatus. This, of course, avoids the problem of improper location or orientation of fold lines resulting from a creasing operation, cuts in the blank during the cutting operation. It also insures proper arrangement of the printing if the blank is being printed. The present invention also provides a novel system for effecting skip feed consisting of a proximity sensor operatively associated with the stroke of the feed bar which selectively interrupts flow of air to the actuators so that the fingers are in a retracted position for every other stroke. This is a useful innovation in cases where large blanks are being fed through the machine.

These and other objects of the present invention and various features and details of the operation and construction thereof are hereinafter more fully set forth with reference to the drawings, wherein;

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the feed section of a machine for performing cutting, creasing, printing, embossing or like operations on sheet material showing the feed bar arrangement in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view showing three of the feed finger assemblies of the feed bar constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are sectional views taken on lines 4-4 and 5-5 respectively of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on lines 6--6 of FIG. 5 showing the actuator mechanism for one of the feed fingers;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view showing one of the feed finger assemblies in a partially forward position in illustrating the configuration of a reverse warped blank;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 showing one of the fingers of the feed bar assembly during an advance stroke of a skip feed operation;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 7 with the actuator mechanism for the feed finger reverse for use in feeding warped blank material;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the positions of various fingers of the feed bar assembly during feeding of an S warped blank; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of the electrical and hydraulic circuitry for the feed bar assembly.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, there is shown the feed section of a machine for performing cutting, creasing, printing, embossing or like operations on sheet materials, for example box blanks B. The feed section broadly designated by the numeral 10 includes a feed table 12 on which a stack of blanks B are supported in position to be fed through the apparatus, and a pair of feed rolls l4 rotatably joumalled between the side walls of the main frame and which advance a single sheet at a time through the machine for performance of various operations on the box blank, for example cutting, creasing, printing, embossing. As is conventional, the feed table 12 has means for maintaining the stack of box blanks accurately in a predetermined position on the table including a pair of

adjustable side guides

16 and 17, a pair of back stop members 18 each having a shelf on which the stack is supported in the angular position illustrated in FIG. 2 and front stops 20 which are adjusted so that the gap between the lower edges thereof and the confronting surface of the feed table is just sufficient for passage of only one of the blanks therethrough at a time.

The feed assembly as best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises an elongated bar 30 extending transversely of the center line of the machine which mounts a plurality of spaced actuating fingers generally designated by the numeral 32. The bar is mounted for reciprocating movement to advance blanks to the feed rolls l4 and to accomplish this the bar is attached to the upper surface of a pair of

slides

34 and 36 which are closely and slidably confined in

longitudinal guide slots

38 and 40 in the feed table. These slides are connected through a linkage broadly designated by the numeral 38a which in turn are mounted on a common actuating shaft 42 which is connected to a suitable actuating means to effect reciprocating movement of the feed bar assembly as described above to advance box blanks to the nip of the feed rolls 14.

Considering now more specifically the structural details and arrangement of the feed fingers and the fluid operated actuating system for the feed fingers, each of the feed fingers comprises a generally rectangular plate member 50 supported at spaced locations along the length of the feed bar and pivotally connected as at 52 adjacent the forward edge of the feed bar. Each of the plate members has a downwardly curved rear por tion 54 and mounted on the rear terminal portion is an arcuate feed clip 56 having a pickup face portion 58 which is preferably disposed tangent to the radius of the rear terminal portion (see FIGS. 3, 4 and Each of the fingers is normally disposed at an angle to the upper surface of the feed bar by means of an actuator mechanism 59(see FIGS. 5 and 6).

The actuator mechanism 59 consists in the present instance of a block-like housing 60 mounted adjacent the rear edge of the feed bar, the housing having a generally cylindrical piston chamber 62 formed therein within which is mounted a piston member 64. The piston chamber is formed by a cavity extending inwardly from the bottom face of the block-like housing. In the mounted position the piston chamber is sealed by an O- ring 68 mounted in a circumferentially extending groove 66 in the lower face of the housing. The piston 64 has an enlarged piston portion with a groove therein to mount a sealing ring 70, the lower face of the piston having a projection 72 so that the piston does not block the inlet port 76 when it is in the lower position. The piston also includes a pin-like projection 80 extending from its front face which engages through an opening 82 in the upper wall of the housing 60.

The actuator mechanism further includes a pivotally mounted actuator assembly 84 consisting of a frame-like member 85, the opposite side walls of which are pivotally mounted at the forward edge to the housing as at 86. In the present instance, the pivotal mounting includes a pin 88 engaging through an opening 90 in the housing, the pin being retained by means of conventional lock washers on opposite sides of the housing. The frame further includes a top wall 92 which normally overlies the piston pin 80 and a rear roller 94 which engages the plate member 50 of the spring finger. (See FIGS. 5 and 6.)

Each of the housings mounts in the present instance a T- fitting 100 which connects the inlet port to a common line 102 attached to a suitable source of fluid pressure, for example high pressure air, the line 102 including, as illustrated schematically in FIG. 11, a solenoid control valve 104, a pressure regulator 106, and a pressure gauge 108.

Referring now by way of example only to the particular form of circuit arrangement illustrated in FIG. 11, the circuit shown therein provides the capability of skip-feed operation mentioned hereinafter. To this end, the solenoid 120 of the solenoid valve 104 is provided with a pair of control leads 122 and 124 which are connected to the power line terminals 128 and 129 respectively when the feed control switch 130 is in its regular feed" position; more particularly, solenoid lead 122 is connected directly to power line terminal 128, while control lead 124 is connected to the other power line terminal 129 by way of the

contacts

134 and 136 of switch 130 when the switch arm 138 thereof is in its lower or regular feed position as shown in the FIG. 11. Under these conditions the solenoid valve 104 remains operated at all times, so as to supply air pressure through regulator 106 to the hydraulic actuator mechanism 59 for normal feed operation as described hereinabove. Supply of power to terminals 128 and 129 may be controlled by the same main control switch (not shown) that supplies power to the rest of the machine.

Feed control switch 130 has two positions other than the regular-feed" position described above, namely an ofi position in which the switch arm 138 is connected to switch contact 140 and the skip position in which the switch arm is connected to switch control 142. When the switch is in its off position, the connection between power line terminal 128 and solenoid control lead 122 is opened, whereby the solenoid is deactuated and the hydraulic valve closed, so that the kick bar 30 remains deactuated and feed is discontinued.

In the skip position of switch 130, powerline terminal 128 is connected to control lead 122 of solenoid by way of the controlled

terminals

148 and 150 of the flip-flop relay 152. The latter relay is of a known commercially-available type having two stable states, a first or high-conduction state in which contact 148 is effectively connected directly to contact 150 to pass current through the relay, and a second or lowconduction state in which the latter two terminals are effectively open-circuited from each other. The flip-flop relay 152 is further characterized by a pair of

control terminals

156 and 158 having the property that a control pulse supplied between these tenninals is effective to change the flip-flop relay from either of its conduction states to the other, and the next-subsequent control pulse is operative to flip the relay back to its first conduction state. Such devices being well known in the art, it will be unnecessary to describe herein the internal connections, arrangements and details thereof.

The latter pair of

control terminals

156 and 158 are connected between the power-

line terminals

128 and 130, terminal 158 being connected directly to terminal 129 while control terminal 156 is connected to power-line terminal 128 through the impulse switch sensor 164 and the arm 138 of switch when the latter arm is in its upper or skip" position. When the entire machine is operating, a control pulse is applied between the

relay control terminals

156 and 158 each time the impulse switch sensor 164 is closed. As described hereinbefore, the latter switch is closed each time the linkage 38a moves forward during its normal cycle of operation. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that when the feed control switch 130 is in its skip position, current will be supplied through flip-flop relay 152 to hold solenoid valve 104 open during a given cycle of operation of the feeder bar 30. The operation of the feeder bar will then close the impulse switch sensor thereby to apply a control pulse between

control terminals

156 and 158 of relay 152 and change it to its non-conductive state; during the next successive cycle of operation of the feeder bar, no current will be supplied to solenoid valve 104. Accordingly, valve 104 will be closed, so that the hydraulic actuator mechanism 59 is deactuated. During the next stroke of the feeder bar the impulse switch sensor 164 will again be operated and will cause a voltage pulse to be applied between

control terminals

156 and 158 of the relay 152, to return the flip-flop relay to its high-conduction state, thereby again opening solenoid valve 104 and reactuating the hydraulic actuator mechanism 59 so as to feed the next subsequent sheet into the feed rolls.

In overall operation then, with the switch 130 in its lower position normal operation is obtained whereby a sheet is fed into the feed rolls during each cycle of operation of the feeder bar 30. When the latter switch is in its off position, no such feeding occurs at all; and when the latter switch is in its skip position, the hydraulic actuator mechanism 59 is actuated and a sheet delivered to the feed rolls only for every other cycle of the feeder bar.

Considering now briefly the operation of a machine for performing cutting, creasing, crimping, embossing, and like operations on sheet material which incorporates the feed bar assembly of the present invention, assume that there is a stack of boards at the feeding station which are supported at a predetermined height above the feed table in the manner illustrated for example in FIGS. 2 and 4. Assume also that initially the sheets are of a size for single feed operation. In this instance, the operator positions the selector switch 130 for re gular feed and now starts the machine by actuating the main switch When the machine is set into operation the feed bar is actuated forwardly from the retracted position (FIG. 4) by the linkage 38a and on its forward travel the feed clips 56 engage the lowermost board to advance the same into the nip of the feed rolls 14 which in turn advance a single blank through the machine where various operations are performed on the blank. It is noted at the start of operations that the solenoid valve 104 is in an open position whereby air under pressure is fed into the various actuator mechanisms for the feed fingers through the line 102. By this arrangement pressure in the lower portion of the piston chamber moves the piston assembly 64 upwardly to pivot the actuating frame and in turn the spring finger upwardly into pressure-applying relation with the lowermost blank in the stack. Accordingly, even if the lowermost board is warped, each of the fingers assumes a positive gripping position (see FIG. to preclude the possibility of cocking the lowermost blank which may cause the apparatus to jam.

In some instances, for example where large size sheets are being fed through the machine, the feed bar mechanism is set in the skip-feed position, which means that the fingers only engage the rear edge of a sheet to advance it through the machine. during every other cycle. More specifically, in the present instance when the operator desires to set the machine for skip-feed operation, the selector switch 130 is simply moved to this position whereby as noted above during the first cycle of the feed bar, the impulse sensor switch 164 through the flip-flop relay actuates the solenoid valve 104 into a position closing off the air supply so that the feed bar fingers are in a lowered position for this cycle of operation; that is, out of the range of engagement with the lowermost sheet on the stack (see FIG. 8). During the next cycle, the valve 104 is opened to again pressurize the system and position the fingers so they engage the rear edge of the lowermost sheet in the stack.

In some instances where the sheet material is severely warped, for example as illustrated in FIG. 9, it may be necessary or desirable to increase the angle of the said fingers in order to insure engagement with the lowermost sheet in the stack. In the present instance, this may be accomplished very easily by simply rotating the housing 180. It is noted that the housing may be simply secured to the feed bar by conventional screwtype fasteners.

We claim:

1. A feed bar assembly for apparatus for performing operations on sheet material including a feed station wherein a plurality of sheets are supported in a stack and means for reciprocating the feed bar to advance single sheets to a pair of feed rolls comprising an elongated bar and a plurality of feed fingers mounted along the length of said bar, each of said fingers including a pivotally mounted plate member and a feed clip mounted on said plate member having a pickup portion adapted to engage an edge of one sheet at the bottom of the stack to advance the same to the feed rolls and actuator means for each of said fingers including means common to all of said actuators operable to apply pressure to all of said feed fingers confronting said one sheet thereby to maintain the feed fingers in substantially uniform pressure applying relation with said sheet thereby to insure positive engagement of each of said feed fingers with the edge of said one sheet during feeding movement of said feed bar.

2. A feed bar assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said feed fingers comprises a plate member pivotally connected to said bar, each of said plate members having a downwardly curved rear portion and an arcuate feed clip mounted on the curved rear portion having a pickup face portion disposed tangent to the radius of the rear terminal portron.

3. A feed bar assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said apparatus includes means for reciprocating said feed bar between a rearward limit position and a forward limit position and wherein actuation of said feed bar between said limit positions moves the lowermost sheet in the stack into the nip of the feed rolls.

4. A feed bar assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein said feed fingers are adapted between an upper limit position to engage the lowermost sheet in the stack and a lowermost limit position out of engagement therewith.

5. A feed bar assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein means is provided for actuating said feed fingers into the uppermost position during every other cycle of operation.

6. A feed bar assembly for apparatus for performing operations on sheet material including a feed station wherein a plurality of sheets are supported in a stack and means for reciprocating the feed bar to advance single sheets to a pair of feed rolls comprising an elongated bar and a plurality of feed fingers mounted along the length of said bar, each of said fingers including a pivotally mounted plate member and a feed clip mounted on said plate member having a pickup portion adapted to engage an edge of one sheet at the bottom of the stack to advance the same to the feed rolls and actuator means adapted to pivot said feed fingers upwardly to insure positive engagement of each of said feed fingers with the edge of said one sheet, said actuator means comprising a housing having a piston chamber therein, a piston mounted in said chamber having an actuating pin projecting from one face thereof adapted to engage said feed finger and fluid means for selectively pressurizing said chamber to pivot said feed finger in a direction wherein it engages the edge of the lowermost sheet.

7. A feed bar assembly as claimed in claim 6 wherein said actuator means includes a frame pivotally mounted on said housing having roller means engagable with the plate member of said feed finger.

8. A feed bar assembly for apparatus for performing operations on sheet material including a feed station wherein a plurality of sheets are supported in a stack and means for reciprocating the feed bar to advance single sheets to a pair of feed rolls comprising an elongated bar and a plurality of feed fingers mounted along the length of said bar, each of said fingers including a pivotally mounted plate member and a feed clip mounted on said plate member having a pickup portion adapted to engage an edge of one sheet at the bottom of the stack to advance the same to the feed rolls and actuator means adapted to pivot said feed fingers upwardly to insure positive engagement of each of said feed fingers with the edge of said one sheet, a fluid pressure system and means connecting the system to all of the actuator means for the feed fingers.

9. A feed bar assembly as claimed in claim 8 wherein said system includes a high pressure air source, a solenoid control valve, a pressure regulator and a pressure gauge.

10. A feed bar assembly as claimed in claim 6 including means for sealing the chamber.

11. A feed bar assembly as claimed in claim 10 wherein said seal means comprises an O-ring mounted in a groove in the bottom wall of said housing circumscribing said chamber.

Claims

2. A feed bar assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said feed fingers comprises a plate member pivotally connected to said bar, each of said plate members having a downwardly curved rear portion and an arcuate feed clip mounted on the curved rear portion having a pickup face portion disposed tangent to the radius of the rear terminal portion.