US2783710A - Document endorsing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

March 5, 1957 s. J. WENTHE ETAL 2,783,710

DOCUMENT ENDORSING APPARATUS Filed May 4, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 All Sigrhen JIWenI/ze Q 'I'homas (1. Murray ATTORNEYS March 1957 5. J. WENTHE ETAL DOCUMENT ENDORSING APPARATUS 4 sheets -sheet 3 Filed May 4, 1955 aJmnz/w Thomas GMurrag IN VEN TORS ag 4 2%., ATTORAIEXS' March 5, 1957 s. J. WENTHE ET AL 2,783,710

DOCUMENT ENDORSING APPARATUS Filed May 4, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 si ma JWenike Thomas 62 Murray IN V EN TORS' ATTORJEEYS N. Y., assignors to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application May 4, i955, sens] No. 505,972 3 Claims. (Cl. 101-234 This invention relates to a document endorsing apparatus and more particularly. to a document actuated document endorsing machanism for document endorsing apparatus Modern innovations and improvements in docum ent feeding techniques and apparatus have resulted in greatly increased speeds of document feed and transport. Necessarily the distance between the trailing andleading edges respectively of successive documents has been greatly reduced. The known document endorsing apparatus, hereinafter referred to as an endorser, has been not entirely satisfactory for the reason that many documents fail to receive an impression from the endorsing mechanism because with documents so closely spaced, insufiicient time elapses between the time that the trailing edge of one document and the leading edge of the succeeding document passes the actuating means of the endorsing mechanism, to enable the actuating means to return to the normal document engaging position in the document path for actuation by the said succeeding document. 7

This is particularly noticeable in that type of endorser in which the actuating means for the endorsing mechanism is formed of relatively heavy and/or numerous mechanical parts Which after passage of adocument, rely on the force of gravity and/ or springs to be reset in the path of the succeeding document. Quite obviously, the inertia and friction of these parts must be overcome in the very short period of time which elapses between successive documents. While some of the known prior art has proposed the use of relatively heavier springs to overcome these forces, these efforts have not produced satisfactory results for the reason that relatively lightweight documents fail to strike the actuating mechanism with sufficient force and rigidity to overcome the heavier spring bias and therefore fail to actuate the "endorsing mechanism. 7 g g According to the present invention we provide a document engaging claw slidably mountedon apawl lever and supported in a raised position by the surface of the document passing thereunder, said claw being adapted to slide vertically downward with respect to the pawl lever into the document path after passage of the trailing edge of the supporting document and be in position to be engaged by the leading edge of the succeeding document. When the leading edge of a document strikes the claw, the pawl lever is pivoted to a position to actuate'the endorsing mechanism and then the pawl and claw are immediately returned by means of a light tension spring to the position which is occupied prior'to actuation by documents except that the claw is supported in the above mentioned raised position by the surface of the document. Thus, the necessity of using heavy and/or numerous mechanical parts, which have to be resetinto document actuating position in the document path by means of relatively heavy springs and/or gravity during the interval of time elapsing between the'pa'ssa'ge of the trailing edge of one document and the closely spaced nited States Patent" 2 leading edge of the succeeding document, has been eliminated.

The primary object therefore of the present invention is to provide in an endorser, a document actuated document endorsing mechanism which is actuated bye'ach document passing through the endorser and causes each document to receive an impression therefrom even though "the distance between the trailing edge of one document and the leadingedge of the succeeding document is "relatively small, and though the documents are advanced to the document endorsing mechanism at a relatively high rate of speed. 7 I

Another object of the present invention is to provide in an endorser, a document actuated document endorsing mechanism which utilizes a relatively light weight claw which is slidably supported in a raised position by the surface of the document being endorsed and s'lidable downward after passage of the trailing edge of the docu-' ment into the path of the succeeding document.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide in an endorser, a document actuated document endorsing mechanism which utilizes a relatively light weight document engaging claw for actuation by each document and does not require the use of relatively heavy springs for resetting the claw into the path of the succeeding document after each actuation.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent to those skilled in, the art from the following description with reference to the drawings in which like characters denote like parts and in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an endorser utilizing a document actuated document endorsing mechanism according to our invention;

' Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the endorser utilizing our invention taken along line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the clutch mechanism utilized in the endorser illustrated in the plan view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the endorser utilizing our invention taken along line 4--4 of Fig. l; and

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are enlarged detail viewsof thedocumerit actuated document mechanism illustrated in Fig. 4 according to our invention. i

The endorser as seen in Fig. 1 utilizes a frame 21 which is preferably cast into the desired shape for mounting the endorser parts in the desired position. The ink reservoir 23 is integrally formed with frame 21, and holds a supply of ink for application to the endorsing mechanism in a manner to be hereinafter described. Frame 21 carries shaft 25 which is provided with a friction gear 27 and sprocket 29 on one end thereof and friction gear 31 on the other end thereof. Shaft 25 also carries print ing drum 33 rotatably thereon and clutch drum 35. Motor 37 drives shaft 25 through reduction gear 39, sprocket 41 which is fixed relative to gear 39, chain 43, and sprocket 29. Frame 21 also rotatably carries shaft 45 on which is mounted friction gears 47 and 49, ad-

vancing roll 51, and sprocket 53 which is also driven from chain 43 as illustrated in Fig. 2. A chain 55 engages a sprocket (not shown) on shaft 45 and a sprocket (not shown) fixed to clutch drum 35 on shaft 25 to ensure synchronous rotation thereof. Rotation of shaft 25 is transmitted through friction gears 27 and 31 to shaft 57 by friction gears 59 and 61. Shaft 57 also carries the platen roll 63. Friction gears 47 and '49 on shaft 45 transmit rotation to the advancing roll '65 which is mounted on shaft 67 through a friction gear 69 mounted on each of the opposed ends of shaft 67.

Rotation of the clutch drum 35 which is in peripheral contact with a friction gear 70 attached to inkingroll 71, is transmitted to the inking roll 71, ink conveyor frictional rotational contact with inking roll 71.

roll 73, and ink supply roll 75 through frictional contact with each other. Thus ink in well 23 is picked up by the ink supply roll 75 during rotation of the roll 75 which is mounted on shaft 77 supported in plates 79 fixed to frame 21. Ink conveyor roll 73 is rotatably mounted on a support member 31 which is hinged about a shaft 33 mounted in plates 79 and which is biased into position by a spring 85. inking roll '71 is rotatably mounted on support brackets 87 which are pivotally mounted about shaft 77. Ink picked up on the supply roll 75 is transferred at the point of frictional rotational contact with conveyor roll 73 to the roll 73. Similarly the ink is transferred from the conveyor roll '73 to the inking roll 71 at the point of frictional rotational contact therebetween. The ink is next transferred from the inking roll 71 to the printing drum 33 at the point of Thus, the continuous rotation of the clutch drum is transferred by frictional contact between rolls to the ink supply roll 75 and ink is simultaneously transferred from the well 23 onto successive rolls to the printing drum 33.

Clutch drum 35 of clutch mechanism 89 is continuously rotated by motor 37 acting through chains 43 and 55. A friction gear 91 is mounted on a short shaft 93 which is pivotally supported on frame 21 by a bracket 95 and pin 97 as seen in Fig. 3. Friction gear 91 is biased into peripheral contact with clutch drum 35 by coil spring 99 which is tensioned between short shaft 93 and shaft 191. Short shaft 93 also carries a ratchet 103 rigidly attached thereto and is rotated continuously by friction gear 91. The clutch mechanism 89 further comprises a clutch lever 105 having a beveled edge 107 on each of its opposed ends and which is freely rotatable on shaft 25. A lever 1119 is mounted behind clutch lever 105 within clutch drum 35 and is freely rotatable on shaft 25 for the purpose of pivotally supporting clutch shoe 111. A pin 113 is provided on one end of lever 1119 for this purpose. Pin 113 also maintains printing drum 33 and lever 109 fixed in position relative to each other. One end of clutch shoe 111 is provided with a pin 115 which protrudes through a slot 117 in clutch lever 105. A tension spring 119 connects the other end of clutch shoe 111 and the other end of lever 109 and biases clutch foot 121 of the clutch shoe 111 toward engagement with the inner peripheral wall 123 of the clutch drum 35. However clutch foot 121 engages wall 123 only after clutch lever 105 is released in response to a document actuation as is hereinafter explained.

In Fig. 4, the numeral 125 designates generally the discharge end of a document photographing apparatus having a pair of brackets 127 on which the endorser is mounted. The document path 129, that is, the path through which documents are advanced in the apparatus, is designated by a relatively heavy dotted line in this as well as in other figures. Feed rollers 131 mounted on shaft 191 and in frictional peripheral contact with platen roll 63, advance a document after discharge from the document photographing apparatus, into contact With a document claw 133. Claw 133 is mounted on a pawl lever 135 which is in turn supported by pivot shaft 137 on actuating lever 139. One end of actuating lever 139 is pivotally supported on a shaft 141 which is mounted in the frame 21 as illustrated in Fig. 2. Thus as the leading edge of the document, designated in the drawings, by the character D, is advanced in contact with claw 133, claw 133 and pawl 135 are pivoted about pivot shaft 137 in a clockwise direction. The ratchet engaging portion 143 of pawl 135 engages a tooth of ratchet 103 which, since it is continuously rotated in a counterclockwise direction, rotates pawl 135 and actuating lever 139 upwardly in a clockwise direction about shaft'141. This movement raises the clutch lever engaging end 145 of actuating lever 139 along beveled edge 107 of clutch lever 105. Fig. 5 illustrates the relative positions of the parts just prior to the instant when the claw 133 slips over the leading edge of document D, the end 143 of pawl 135 disengages from the previously engaged tooth of ratchet 103, and simultaneously end 145 is raised free of clutch lever 105 allowing spring 119 to pivot foot 121 of clutch shoe 111 about pin 113 into engagement with wall 123 of clutch drum 35 as a result of the slidable connection of pin 115 in slot 117.

-As soon as foot 121 engages wall 123, printing drum 33 rotates with shaft 25 in synchronism with platen roll 63. The impression is transferred from the drum 33 to the document D as the document is pressed between the drum 33 and platen roll 63. After the clutch lever 105 and drum 33 begin to rotate, actuating lever 139 and pawl 135 pivot downwardly in a counterclockwise direction about shaft 141 and pivot shaft 137 respectively to a position where claw 133 rests on the upper surface of document D as is illustrated in Fig. 6. The positions taken by levers 135 and 139 after release of the clutch lever 105 as illustrated in Fig. 6 is the same as the normal position occupied by the levers 135 and 139 prior to actuation by a document, said normal position being illustrated in Fig. 7. Claw 133 is slidably mounted on pins 147 at the lower end of pawl 135 whereby, as illustrated in Fig. 6, claw 133 is raised while a document D is passing beneath it, but as is illustrated in Fig. 7 will immediately drop off of the trailing edge of the document into the path of the next advancing document. A light tension coil spring 149 is connected between pawl lever 151 which is identical to pawl lever 135 and also fixed to pivot shaft 137, and a member 153 which is pivotally carried by shaft 137 as is illustrated in Fig. 1, for preventing pawl lever 135 from pivoting into engagement with a tooth on ratchet 103 while claw 133 is in the raised position supported by the surface of document D as is illustrated in Fig. 6. Spring 149 also serves to overcome the friction and inertia of levers 135 and 139 to return them quickly to the normal position illustrated in Fig. 6, after the tooth on ratchet 103 is disengaged from pawl lever 135. Thus regardless of the length of any document the endorsing mechanism will be actuated by only the leading edge of the document and only one time for each document. Clutch lever 105 rotates only one half of a complete revolution each time it is released by the actuating lever 139. Printing drum 33 also rotates only one half of a complete revolution during the imprinting of the document with the desired impression and therefore each half of the printing drum 33 is provided with identical printing formats. The document after receiving an impression from the printing drum is continued to be advanced by the frictional contact with the continuously rotating platen roll and by the continuously rotating advancing rolls 51 and 65 to be discharged from the endorser. Suitable guides 155 and 157 guide the documents in the document path 129 through the endorser. The frame 21 is mounted on support members 159, 161, and 163 and as illustrated in Fig. 4 can be provided with a cover 165 for protection of the endorser and safety of the operator.

Thus it will be appreciated that we have disclosed a document actuated document endorsing mechanism in which the actuating mechanism is actuated by every document even though closely spaced with the preceding document because the document claw is supported by the surface of the document to fall off the trailing edge into the document path while the remaining parts of the mechanism have been situated in position ready for actuation by the striking of the claw by the leading edge of the succeeding document.

Since many variations of the illustrated embodiment of our invention are possible and will be readily recognized by those skilled in the art, the present disclosure is only illustrative and the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

Having now particularly described our invention, what we desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States and what we claim is:

1. Document endorsing apparatus comprising a frame, a document feed roller mounted for rotation in said frame, a platen roller mounted for rotation in said frame in synchronism with the rotation of said feed roller and positioned in peripheral contact with said feed roller, means for rotating said feed roller and said platen roller for advancing a document therebetween, a printing drum having a printing surface rotatable into contact with said document when supported on said platen roller, a normally disengaged clutch means for normally maintaining said drum stationary, and clutch engaging means actuated by the leading edge of said document for rotating said printing surface in synchronism with said platen roller and into contact with said document, said clutch engaging means comprising an actuating lever having one end pivotally mounted to said frame, the other end of said actuating lever being in engagement with said clutch means, a pawl lever pivotally mounted on said actuating lever between said one end and said other end, said actuating lever and said pawl lever occupying normal positions with respect to said frame prior to actuation by said document, a claw mounted on said pawl lever and normally extending into document engaging position whereby said document upon striking said claw pivots said pawl lever in the direction of travel of said document, means operable on movement of said pawl lever to pivot said pawl lever and said claw out of engagement with said document and to simultaneously pivot said actuating lever out of engagement with said clutch means and thereby engaging said clutch means and a relatively light tension means for biasing said pawl lever and said actuating lever to said normal positions upon engagement of said clutch means.

2. Document endorsing apparatus comprising a frame, a document feed roller mounted for rotation in said frame, a platen roller mouned for rotation in said frame in synchronism with the rotation of said feed roller and positioned in peripheral contact with said feed roller, means for rotating said feed roller and said platen roller for advancing a document therebetween, a printing drum having a printing surface rotatable into contact with said document when supported on said platen roller, a normally disengaged clutch means for normally maintaining said drum stationary, and clutch engaging means actuated by the leading edge of said document for rotating said printing surface in synchronism with said platen roller and into contact with said document, said clutch engaging means comprising an actuating lever having one end pivotally mounted to said frame, the other end of said actuating lever being in engagement with said clutch means, a pawl lever pivotally mounted on said actuating lever between said one end and said other end, said actuating lever and said pawl lever occupying normal positions with respect to said frame prior to actuation by said document, a claw mounted on said pawl lever and normally extending into document engaging position whereby said document upon striking said claw pivots said pawl lever in the direction of travel of said document, means operable on movement of said pawl lever to pivot said pawl lever and said claw out of engagement with said document and to simultaneously pivot said actuating lever out of engagement with said clutch means and thereby engaging said clutch means, and a relatively light tension means for biasing said pawl lever and said actuating lever to said normal positions upon engagement of said clutch means, said claw being slidably mounted on said pawl lever to thereby permit movement to a raised position when in contact with the surface of said document and movement into document engaging position upon passage of the trailing edge of said document. I

3. Document endorsing apparatus comprising a'frame, a document feed roller mounted for rotation in said frame, a platen roller mounted for rotation in said frame in synchronism with the rotation of said feed roller and positioned in peripheral contact with said feed roller, means for rotating said feed roller and said platen roller for advancing a document therebetween, a printing drum having a printing surface rotatable into contact with said document when supported on said platen roller, a normally disengaged clutch means for normally maintaining said drum stationary, and clutch engaging means actuated by the leading edge of said document for rotating said printing surface in synchronism with said platen roller and into contact with said document, said clutch engaging means comprising an actuating lever having one end pivotally mounted to said frame, the other end of said actuating lever being in engagement with said clutch means, a pawl lever pivotally mounted on said actuating lever between said one end and said other end, said actuating lever and said pawl lever occupying normal positions with respect to said frame prior to actuation by said document, a claw mounted on said pawl lever and normally extending into document engaging position whereby said document upon striking said claw pivots said pawl lever in the direction of travel of said document, a ratchet continuously driven by said rotating means and engageable with said pawl lever upon movement thereof in the direction of travel of said document forpivoting said pawl lever and said claw out of engagement with said document and to simultaneously pivot said actuating lever out of engagement with said clutch means and thereby engaging said clutch means, and a relatively light tension means for biasing said pawl lever and said actuating lever to said normal p0 sitions upon engagement of said clutch means, said claw being slidably mounted on said pawl lever to thereby permit movement to a raised position when in contact with the surface of said document and movement into document engaging position upon passage of the trailing edge of said document.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

Images