US2693754A - Cutout mechanism for endorsing machines - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 9, 1954 E. PERssON CUTOUT MECHANISM FOR ENDORSING MACHINES 2 sheds-sheet 1 Filed April 7, 1950 FIGLI INVENTOR. my

ATTORNEY.

Nov. 9, 1954 E. PERssON 2,693,754

cuTouT MECHANISM FOR ENDoRsING MACHINES Filed April 7, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F|G.3 72 l i f5 i l l l f m v /3 INVENTOR. v1/114i @ma-ru BY f i Patented Nov. 9, 19.54

CUTOUT MECHANISM FOR NDORSING MACHINES Ernest Persson, New York, N. Y., assignor to The International Postal Supply Company, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 7, 1950, Serial No. 154,674

2 Claims. (Cl. 101-235) This invention relates to check endorsing machines and the like and has for its object the provision of a novel cut-out arrangement by which a check endorsing die may be made operative or inoperative at will.

Many check endorsing machines are provided with a plurality of independent endorsing dies each with its own trip lever. The respective dies are usually arranged to print different matter on the checks. Sometimes it is desirable to have the matter from but one die printed on a check and the present invention provides a simple arrangement by which the trip mechanism of any die may be disabled at will to prevent the operation of the same.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an arrangement for adjusting the trip mechanism of a check endorsing machine to compensate for wear of the feed rollers.

Still another object of the invention is the provision f a novel printing die structure in which a plurality of dies are removably mounted on a single hub, provision being made to rotate the structure for supporting the dies with respect to a stop arm so that the respective dies may be slid past the stop arm when installing or removing the same. With this arrangement, separate dies may be mounted side by side on a hub, the arrangement permitting the greater part of the surface of the structure to be available for printing. In the novel structure disclosed, a stop arm is lixed to a driven shaft or sleeve which operates intermittently under control of a start-stop mechanism. A hub mounted on the sleeve carries a pair of printing dies side by side in spaced relation. The hub and die structureis such that the dies may be slipped on or off dove tailed supports in an axial direction. With the ordinary construction,

the xed stop arm would block removal of one of the dies. ln the present invention, however, the hub is normally free to turn on the driven sleeve with respect to the stop arm for an angular distance limited by a depressible pin in the movable hub which is positioned normally between a pair of short angularly spaced arms xed with respect to the stop arm. The pin may be depressed to pass under either of the spaced arms to permit further rotation of the hub with respect to the stop arm and with this arrangement the respective dies may be moved on their supports past the stop arm.

This loose coupled mechanism has thev further advantage in that during operation, the -entire weight of the hub and stop arm structure is not stopped on the initial impact of the stop arm and the arresting structure therefor, since after the stop arm has come to rest, the hub turns an appreciable angular distance before the pin carried by the hub engages one of the short arms fixed with respect to the stop arm which lessens the initial shock of the engagement of the stop arm with its arresting apparatus. When the stop arm is released, the starting load on the driving clutch is less and the driven sleeve picks up more quickly since the driven sleeve travels an appreciable distance before picking up the load of the hub.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which Fig. l is a plan View of a check endorsing machine in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken through 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a view partly in section taken through 3--3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a view partly in section taken through 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings: An endorsing die and a controlling mechanism shown in the various gures of the drawings is supported in a detachable bracket arrangement of a known type which includes a horizontal arm 10, Fig. 1, slotted at 11 in one end and provided with a pair of round openings, one of which is shown in the drawings, which t over upright supporting rods 12 to which they are clamped by a suitable thumb screw, not shown.

A block 13 is fastened to one side of arm 10. About one half of this block projects beyond the upper surface of the arm to give access to an adjusting means mounted in the block which will be referred to further on.

At the end of arm a generally hat member 15 is fastened by a screw 16, Fig. 3, which serves as one side of a guideway through which checks or other objects to be endorsed are fed by suitable feed rollers. lmmedilately to the rear of arm 10, the lower portion of guide member 15 is cut away to provide clearance for a printing die, to be described, while the opposite end of guide member 15 is formed with a depending offset bifurcated portion having parallel spaced horizontal arms 18 and 19 between which a trip release tongue 20 projects, the arms 18 and 19 serving as a guard therefor.

The trip tongue 20, which is one arm of a two-armed lever, controls a start-stop printing die to be described which is driven through a suitable clutch,` such as a friction clutch, not shown. The printing die structure is provided with a stop arm which is arrested each revolution and then released when a check or other object fed through the guideway rocks the trip tongue 20.

Referring to Fig. 2, shaft is formed with a spline 26 by which it may be detachably connected to the driven member of a suitable friction clutch, not shown.l A sleeve 27 is secured to shaft 25 by any suitable means. A gear 28 for driving a counter is detachably secured to sleeve 27. Referring to Fig. 4, a die supporting hub 29 referred to herein generally as a printing roller is free to turn on sleeve 27. A pair of longitudinally flattened surfaces 30 and 31, the edges of which meet forming a longitudinal. spline 32 are provided respectivelywith large raised surfaces 33 and 34 formed with under cut or dovetailed vertical edges 35 and 36. A pair of printing dies 23 and 24 undercut at the base with complementary dove tail recesses iit over the raised surfaces 33 and 34. As already described, the printing roller structure is normally free to turn on sleeve 27 for a limited angular distance by an arrangement now to be described.

Overlying the printing roller 29 is a plate 40 formed with two angularly spaced opposed arms 41 and 42. This plate is fixed to the sleeve 27. A depressible pin 43 extends upwardly from printing roller or die hub 29 be* tween arms 41 and 42 and forms the driving connection between the printing roller and sleeve 27. A spring actuated stop pawl 44 pivoted on a stud 45 fastened in bracket arm 10 by screw 46 engages the rib 32 on the print roller to prevent rebound of the print roller on the engagement of pin 43 with arm 41 when shaft 25 is stopped.

A stop arm 47, Fig. l, carrying a roller 48, Fig. 3, pivoted in the end thereof is secured to sleeve 27 overlying plate 40. The stop arm roller 4S cooperates with a roller 49 mounted near the end of a stop lever 50 .pivoted iny spaced relation on stud 45 together with the already mentioned stop pawl 44. The construction is such that the centers of rollers 48 and 49 and stud 45 when in a position of rest are disposed in a straight line. With this arrangement a very light impact on the arm of lever 50 will disturb the alignment of the parts, releasing roller 48 and the shaft 25. roller 49 out of its path and shaft 25 will be free to turn for one revolution when it will be stopped again by roller 49.

A fibre stop pin for lever 50 having a attened engaging surface is fastened in an opening in bracket arm 10 by screw 56. Lever 50 is held against stop pin 55 by a spring 57 having one end connected by a link 58 to the lever and the other fastened to the turned over end of a spring post 59 adjustably secured in an opening in bracket 10 by screw 60.

Once released. roller 48 will cam Lever 50 is pivoted at 63 to a link 64 which in turn is pivoted on pin 62 to arm 65 of trip tongue lever 20. The latter is fulcrumed in between members 66 and 67 of a bifurcated lever arm on a pin 61 which extends therethrough, the bifurcated arm being formed integrally with one end portion of a sleeve fulcrum section 68 which has a second lever arm 69 extending from near its opposite end. This lever arrangement is pivoted to the under side of bracket block 13 by a stud 70 which is fastened to the block by a screw 71, Fig. 1. A spring 72 having one end fastened to a link 73 to lever arm 69 and the other end to the turned over end of an adjustable spring post 74 adjustably fastened in a hole in block 13 by screw 75 tends to turn lever 66-67-69 in a clockwise direction as shown in Fig. 1.

A novel cut-out arrangement and adjustment for wear on the usual check-feeding rollers indicated by the dot and dash arcs 21 and 22 cooperates with the lever arm 69. The cut-out arrangement is a small at lever 80 frictionally mounted in a vertical slot cut in one face of block 13. The lower end 81 of lever 80 projects below a cut away portion of block 13, Fig. 2, into the path of lever arm 69 and serves as a back stop therefor. Lever 80 is mounted on a pivot 83 held by block 13. Above pivot. 83 an adjusting screw 84 provided with a lock nut 85 engages one edge of lever 80 to regulate the position of rest thereof and also thereby the normal position of rest of lever arm 69.

The cut-out arrangement operates as follows: The levers and associated linkages per se for tilting the lever 50 and cyclically releasing the printing die is a known mechanism which is designed so that irrespective of the length of a check or other object fed through the machine the rotation of the die assembly will be invariably arrested after one revolution. A check fed through the device is engaged by suitable known rubber rollers indicated by the dash and dot arcs 21 and 22 and brought up against the end portion of trip tongue 20 initially rocking the same a short angular distance on pivot 61 which movement is communicated by link 64 to lever 50 which is rocked slightly on its pivot pin 45 in a counterclockwise direction as shown in Fig. 1 upsetting the aligned arrangement of the centers of stop arm roller 48 and roller 49 with pivot 45 thus releasing the printing roller which is constantly urged to turn by its friction drive. Roller 48 carried by the stop arm, cams roller 49 out of its path. As the check progresses between rollers 21 and 22, it forces lever 66-68-69 to turn on its pivot 70 in a counterclockwise direction, the check overriding the end of the trip tongue lever. This moves lever arm 69 away from its stop 81 which is the lower end of cut-out lever 80. In the meantime, spring 57 has turned lever 50 so that roller 49 carried thereby is again positioned in the path of roller 48 mounted on stop arm 47 to arrest the same at the end of the revolution of the printing die.

With the arrangement just described, an initial downward pressure exerted on the end of the trip tongue 20 as shown in Fig. l does not effect a turning movement of lever 50 but merely causes lever 66-68-69 to turn on its pivot in a counterclockwise direction. When it is desired to cut out a printing die, cut-out lever Si) is turned and the lower end thereof engages lever arm 69 turning this lever which movement is effective to withdraw the trip tongue 20 from the path of the checks to a position of rest between the arms 18 and 19 of the guide 15. Reversing the position of lever 80 returns the device instantly to operative condition without tripping the same.

One of the feed rollers, usually roller 21, is customarily mounted on a movable spring pressed spindle which keeps the rollers 21 and 22 pressed against each other. As the rollers wear, and their diameters become reduced, their position of contact with respect to the end of trip tongue 20 changes, the contact point gradually moving toward the guiding member approaching fulcrum 61, decreasing the effective length of the lever arm and reducing the sensitivity of the arm 65 of the trip tongue lever Z0. Screw 84 is provided which may be adjusted to tilt lever 80 slightly so that the position of rest of lever arm 69 is changed so that it is rotated slightly in a counterclockwise direction, as shown in Fig. 1 to withdraw the trip tongue sufciently to correct for the changed position of engagement of feed rollers 21 and 22.

In Figs. 1 and 4 the die assembly and release mechanism are shown in their position of rest. When the print roller is released by the operation of trip tongue 20, shaft 25 and sleeve 27 turn until arm 40 engages pin 43 and the hub assembly is turned thereby. When roller 48 on vthe stop arm engages roller 49 the rotation of shaft 25 and sleeve 27 is arrested, but the momentum carries the hub assembly further on until the movement thereof is stopped by pin 43 engaging arm 41. At this position of the hub, pawl 44 engages spline 32 preventing rebound of the hub.

What is claimed is:

1. In an intermittently operable printing mechanism suitable for printing on cheeks or the like, a bracket, a guideway adjacent the bracket, means including a pair of cooperating feed rollers for feeding checks along the guideway, a trip tongue lever having a pair of arms, a portion of the first of the arms extending into the guideway so as to be tripped by the leading edges of the respective checks passing therethrough, a rotary frictionally driven printing die supported by the bracket, a stop arm fixed to the printing die, a spring loaded stop lever having a pair of arms one of which is normally positioned in the rotary path of the stop arm to arrest the same and hold the printing die against rotation, a link pivotally connecting the second arm of the trip tongue lever with the second arm of the stop lever whereby the trip tongue lever on being tripped disengages the stop lever arm from the stop arm permitting the printing die to turn, a fulcrum lever pivotally mounted on the bracket having a pair of arms one of which is pivoted to the trip tongue, and means for limiting the movement of the fulcrum lever in one direction comprising a stop screw mounted in the bracket, a member in the rotary path of the second arm of the fulcrum lever displaceable by the stop screw, the screw and the member serving to adjust the length of the portion of the trip tongue extending into the guideway to compensate for wearing of said feed rollers.

2. In an intermittently operable printing mechanism suitable for printing on checks or the like, a bracket, a guideway adjacent the bracket, means including a pair of cooperating feed rollers for feeding checks ,along the guideway, a trip tongue lever having a pair of arms a portion of the iirst of the arms extending into the guideway so as to be tripped by the leading edges of the respective checks passing therethrough; a rotary frictionally driven printing die supported by the bracket, a stop arm fixed to the pgr/inting die, a spring loaded stop lever having a pair of arms one of which is normally positioned in the rotary path of the stop arm to arrest the same and hold the printing die against rotation, a link pivotally connecting the second arm of the trip tongue lever with the second arm of the stop lever whereby the trip tongue lever on being tripped disengages the stop lever arm from the stop arm permitting the printing die to turn, a fulcium lever pivotally mounted on the bracket having a pair of arms one of which is pivoted to the trip tongue, means for limiting the movement of the fulcrum lever about its pivot in one direction comprising a stop screw threaded into the bracket, the screw serving to adjust the length of the portion of the trip tongue extending into the guideway to compensate for wearing of said feed rollers, said limiting means also including a manually operable lever frictionally mounted on the bracket, the lever being disposed between the end of the stop screw and the second arm of the fulcrum, the latter lever being effective when turned to rock the fulcrum lever on its pivot and withdraw the trip tongue from the guideway and thus arrest the operation of the printing mechanism.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,905,526 Swanson Apr. 25, 1933 2,104,668 Pearson Jan. 4, 1938 2,128,156 Moller Aug. 23, 1938 2,141,119 Wheeler Dec. 20, 1938 2,363,554 Ryan et al Nov. 28, 1944 2,373,503 Sager Apr. 10, 1945 2,406,040 Ryan Aug. 20, 1946

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