US3328025A - Machine for zig-zag folds using releasably mounted folding plates - Google Patents

Description

June 27, 1967 GALES 3,328,025

MACHINE FOR ZIGZAG FOLDS USING RELEASABLY MOUNTED FOLDING PLATES vFiled June 15, 1965 n1 l 11111111111111/04) A United States Patent 3,328,025 MACHINE FOR ZIG-ZAG FOLDS USING RELEAS- ABLY MOUNTED FOLDING PLATES Donald M. Gales, 9410 Warren St., Silver Spring, Md. 20910 Filed June 15, 1965, Ser. No. 464,107 13 Claims. (Cl. 270-69) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A machine is described which is for automatically producing zig-zag or accordion folds in rolls of material, such as rolled strip charts used in science and industry, thus allowing them'to be easily inspected or the data thereon to be processed. The folding is done by a backand-forth moving conveyor which carries the roll of material, entwining the material among rigid plates or cards that are released singly onto the material by the action of the conveyor. The entwined paper is creased, then pulled free of the plates as a stack of uniform zig-zag folds.

This invention relates to a machine for automatically and continuously folding rolls of paper in zig-zag or ac cordion fashion.

Many recording devices used in industry and in research utilize rolls of-paper as a recording medium on which is traced or printed a continuous record of information from the recording instrument or printing device, and to which future reference will be made for the recorded information. Most recorders are built so that the recorded information is rolled up on a take-up roll after the data are printed on the paper. When the data are to be inspected after the roll has been removed from the recorder, it is necessary to unroll the paper to any portion of the record to be inspected. This may be the initial portion of the roll necessitating the unrolling of the entire roll. Future reference to another portion of the same roll willrequire another rolling of the chart to the required portion.

: Thus, in order to facilitate examination of rolls of such paper records, it is customary to fold these records in zig-zag or accordion folds which enables the observer to immediately open the roll to any portion just as he would open a book. Once the roll is folded the data are available once and for all, but this folding is a tedious, time consuming operation when done by hand.

In view of the above, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a machine for automatically and-continuously folding paper rolls into zig-zag or accordion type folds whereby considerable time is saved in preparing records for examination or data extraction from any portion of the paper, or preparing records for convenient storage.

Another object is to providea portable machine of the above type which is mechanically rugged, reliable, ;foolproof in operation, and uses a minimum number of moving parts. a

Another object is to provide a folding machine which may be operated by unskilled personnel.

These objects and advantages of the invention are atflat position below the card, or plate, and with each push 3,323,925 Patented June 27, 1967 or pull motion the roll passes over each new card that has fallen thus adding another fold to the pile of folds intertwined among the fallen cards. When the cards are all released and laying flat with intertwined folded chart paper, the cards are pulled free of the folds and reset to begin dropping as before, and in a short time the entire roll is a pile of accordion folds, ready for inspection or for utilizing the data printed upon the chart paper.

These general objectives, and such other objects and advantages as may hereinafter appear, will be pointed out in the manner illustratively embodied in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the paper folding machine of this invention with a portion of the folding cards cut away to show the card releasing mechanism.

FIGURE 2 shows the unrolling supply of paper intertwining among fallen folding cards, and shows the operation of the card releasing mechanism.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the machine comprises of a substantially horizontal base 1 adapted to rest upon a table top, and to which base 1 is attached a rectangular frame 2 including parallel side members 3, 4 mounted at right angles to the plane of the base 1. The side memher 3 is rabbeted at 5 on its upper edge for substantially the length of the member 3, and the side member 4 has a groove 6 formed near the top edge and which extends parallel to the base 1 for substantially the length of the member 4. The rabbet 5 and groove 6 are formed at the same heights above the base 1. A guiding means 7 is fitted between the side members 3 and 4 to slide freely but snugly in the groove 6 and the rabbet 5. Atop the guiding means 7 and at approximately a right angle to the side member 3 is mounted a conveyor 9 so as to be parallel to the base 1. The conveyor 9 and guide means 7 are removable from the rabbet 5 and groove 6 by a lifting motion on the conveyor 9. A slot 11 is formed lengthwise in the conveyor 9 of sufficient length to accommodate the maximum width of paper to be folded. The roll of paper 8 to be folded is mounted on a spindle 10 parallel to and above the slot 11 at a height slightly greater than the radius of the maximum size roll of paper that is to be folded. The spindle 10 is fitted into recesses 12 in vertical supports 13 and 14 mounted upon the conveyor 9 at the ends of the slot 11. Thus, a roll of paper 8 which is to be folded is mounted upon the spindle 10 with the unrolling paper fed through the slot 11 and onto the base 1.

A plurality of folding cards 15 which are made of thin, somewhat rigid material such as pressed board, plastic or metal sheets, or otherlike material are each provided with a hinge 16 made of flexible thin material binding the fold-. ing cards 15 to binders 17 each consisting of a strip of material of the same thickness as the folding card 15. A convenient embodiment of the folding cards uses conventional pressed board binders with hinges of cloth. The folding card binders 17 are securely fastened together by fastening means such as conventional prong-type fasteners 18. Thinness in the cards is desirable to permit the greatest number of cards to be put together compactly in book form.

The plurality of folding cards 15 that are bound together in book form are securely mounted on the end of the base 1 opposite the side member 3 and beyond the end of the conveyor 9 at such a distance as to allow the folding cards 15 to overlap several inches onto the strip of the unrolling chart 19 as will be described below. The

. mounting means of the bound folding cards 15 is by a pair of stanchion pins 20 extending upward from base 1 in this embodiment of the machine. The pins 20 enter into holes 21 in the binder 17. The pins 20 hold the folding cards 15 securely to prevent twisting when tension is on the cards by the folding procedure described below,

The length of the folding cards measured in the direction parallel to the side member 3 determines the length of the fold that will be placed in the unrolling chart paper 19. This length of fold can be adjusted by using bound stacks of folding cards pre-cut to the desired length of fold, and by adjusting the stop pins 22 and 23 installed in the side member 4 at the appropriate positions to stop the sliding guide means 7 when it reaches the positions for the release of folding cards one by one as is described next.

The card releasing mechanism consists of notches in the card edges to provide alternate clearances at the card edges for abutment means on the conveyor 9, such as abutment arms. These arms, cooperating with the notches, set as car-d releasing arms.

FIGURE 2 shows the card releasing mechanism in more detail.

The releasing arms 24 and are mounted on the spindle support 14 of the conveyor 9 parallel to the base 1 and parallel to the face of the folding cards 15 which are tilted into a substantially vertical position and which lean against the arms 24 and 25 as the arms 24 and 25 move back and forth in co-operation with the conveyor 9. The ends of the arms 24 and 25 are fitted with wheels 26 and 27 which are for reducing friction when the arms 24 and 25 are sliding across the face of the tilted folding cards 15. Notches 28 and 29 are cut into a vertical edge of each folding card 15 as seen in their til-ted position. The height of the notches 28 and 29 above the base 1 is such that a releasing arm 24 or 25 slides into a notch 28 or 29 when the releasing arms 24 and 25 are moving back and forth in co-operation with the conveyor 9. The notched cards 15 are stacked and bound with the notches 28 and 29 at alternating vertical edges of the folding card pile 15. The depth of each notch 28 or 29 inward toward the center of a card 15 is such as to allow the end of the arm 24 or 25 to support the remaining upward-tilted stack of bound folding cards 15, and the vertical height of the notches 28 and 29 is such as to allow the folding card 15 being released to pass the arm 24 or 25 without contacting it. The length of each arm 24 or 25 is slightly less than the maximum radius of the largest roll of paper 8 to be folded plus the depth of the notch 28 or 29 in order for the falling card 15 to fall clear of the paper roll 8 and the arm 24 or 25.

An attachment for creasing the folding paper is included in the illustrated embodiment of the paper folding machine. The creaser consists of an inverted U-frame 32 rotatively mounted adjacent to the spindle support 13 so that the U-f-rame 32 straddles the conveyor 9. The guide means handle 3th is securely fastened in the middle of the arch of the inverted U-frame 32 through a hole 33 in the support 1 3. The handle is free to rotate in the hole 33 and in the handle support 34. The operators wrist action upon handle 30 causes the U-frame 32 to pivotally rotate through an arc. At each of the lower extremities of the inverted U-frame 32 is a rigidly mounted axle 36 at right angles to U-frame 32 and pari and the paper threaded through slot 11 and onto base 1 where it is held in place until several folding cards 15 have fallen. Having loaded and threaded the paper roll 8, the pile of folding cards 15 is mounted on the stanchion pins 20, and the cards 15 are tilted into their substantially vertical position resting against the card releaser arms 24 and 25. By using handle 30 the operator begins the back and forth motion of the sliding guide means 7 which causes the paper 3 tounroll. At the end of the initial push stroke by the operator, the card releaser arm 24 slides into the notch 29. The first upright folding card 15, no longer being supported, falls freely past the arm 24 and past the paper roll 8 onto the unrolling paper 19, the card 15 having pivoted at its hinge 16. When said card 15 falls it lays upon a portion of the unrolled paper 19. The operator having reached the end of the push stroke by hitting stop pin 22 and releasing the first upright folding card 15, now begins the pull stroke which causes more paper to unroll and lay over the top of the fallen card 15. The pull motion draws the paper 19 t-aut over the edge of fallen card 15. At the end of the pull stroke the above action repeats when the releasing arm 25 falls into notch 28 in the next folding card 15 from the pile, causing another card to fall to a substantially horizontal position. The operator continues this pushpull motion and the sequence of events repeats, and the unrolling paper 19 pulls taut over each folding card 15 in turn.

It will be noted that the slot 11 is relatively rough and provides sufficient frictional drag on the material fed therethrough to cause the withdrawn material to be drawn substantially taut against the side edges of the previously released cards 15 as the conveyor 9 is moved over the released cards.

Creases are formed in the unrolled paper 19 by the cylindrical cre-asers 35 which pass over the unrolled paper 19 in advance of the movement of the conveyor 9. By the operators wrist action, the handle 30 is rotated so as to swing the advancing creaser 35 downward each time the conveyor movement is reversed.

A-n embodiment of the paper folding machine without a creaser would require the operator to occasionally utilize his free hand by passing it over the unrolling paper 1 9 to form the creases.

When the entire pile of folding cards 15 has fallen upon the unrolling chart, the operator pulls the stack of folding cards 15 from the stanchion pins 20,and holding the folded chart paper 31 with one hand, he draws the cards 15 from the folded paper 31. He resets the cards 15 on the pins 20 behind the releasing arms 24, 25 and the operator continues his folding by the push-pull operation until the entire roll of paper is folded into zig-zag or accordion folds ready for inspection or filing.

It will be evident from the above description that the present invention provides a mechanically simple paper folding machine which may be readily operated by unskilled personnel, and which will quickly and accurately form a series of accordion folds in a roll of material of any size.

While the invention has been described by reference to rolled paper material, it will be readily apparent that the invention is not limited to such material, but may be used to fold or spread any rolled flexible sheet material such as fabric, resinous sheet, or the like.

Many variations and modifications of the disclosed exemplary embodiment will be obvious to those skilled in the art. It is therefore intended that the invention include all such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the character described for fol-ding rolls of paper or other pliable material into piles of accordion-type or zig-zag folds, a base, a guiding means mounted on the base, a conveyor mounted to move back and forth with said guiding means, support means on said conveyor for holding a roll of material to be folded in a position over the base substantially perpendicular to the guiding means, a plurality of rigid plates mounted on said base opposite said guiding means, means for providing lateral alternate clearances at plate edges, and abutment means on the conveyor engageable with the j plates so. as to normally hold the cards in substantially upright positions, said abutment means being movable with the'conveyor so as to travel across the faces of the plates responsive to movement of the conveyor and being oriented so as to move through the lateral plate clearance at the edge of each innermost plate, whereby to release the last-named plate and allow it to fall toward the base in overlying relation to material from said roll.

2. The machine of claim 1, and means on the conveyor to spread the material from the roll over the base responsive to the movement of the conveyor along the guiding means.

3. The machine of claim 1, and wherein said support means comprises a spindle extending substantially perpendicular to said guiding means.

4. The machine of claim 1, and wherein said abutment means comprises horizontal arms rigidly mounted on the end of said conveyor and respectively extending in the directions of movement of the conveyor.

5. The machine of claim 4, and anti-friction means on the arm supportingly engageable with the faces of the plates.

6. The machine of claim 1, and wherein the plates are provided at their margins with binding means for fastening the plates together and with flexible hinge means connecting the plates to said binding means.

7. The machine of claim 6, and wherein the binding means for the respective plates are superimposed, and means fastening the superimposed binding means together, whereby the plates are united in substantially book-like form and can be handled as a unit.

8. The machine of claim 7, and upstanding positioning means on the base engage-able through the superimposed binding means for releasably holding the fastened superimposed binding means against movement on the base but allowing unitary removal and replacement of the united plates.

9. The machine of claim 7, wherein the united plates have clearances at alternate side edges sufficient to allow a released plate to fall free of the abutment means when the abutment means passes through an edge clearance into supporting engagement with the remaining upright plates.

10. The machine of claim 9, and spreading means on the conveyor below the support means engageable with material from the roll to spread the material substantially horizontally over the base responsive to the movement of the conveyor, said spreading means providing sufiicient frictional drag on the material to cause withdrawn material to be drawn substantially taut against the side edges of the previously released plates.

11. The machine of claim 7, and wherein the united plates are interchangeable with other united plates of different dimensions, whereby the resulting lengths of zig-zag folds are of corresponding different dimensions.

12. The machine of claim 9 and means to stop the movement of the conveyor on said guiding means when the abutment means passes through said edge clearance and releases a plate.

13. The machine of claim 1, and a crease forming means mounted on and extending below the conveyor for exerting a downward force upon the material being folded.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,281,869 5/1942 Brasseur 101418 2,549,386 4/1951 Reigh 27061 2,659,597 11/1953 Shaak et al. 27031 3,150,872 9/1964 Lockwood et al. 270-79 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

P. WILLIAMS, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN A MACHINE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED FOR FOLDING ROLLS OF PAPER OR OTHER PLIABLE MATERIAL INTO PILES OF ACCORDION-TYPE OR ZID-ZAG FOLDS, A BASE, A GUIDING MEANS MOUNTED ON THE BASE, A CONVEYOR MOUNTED TO MOVE BACK AND FORTH WITH SAID GUIDING MEANS, SUPPORT MEANS ON SAID CONVEYOR FOR HOLDING A ROLL OF MATERIAL TO BE FOLDED IN A POSITION OVER THE BASE SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE GUIDING MEANS, A PLURALITY OF RIGID PLATES MOUNTED ON SAID BASE OPPOSITE SAID GUIDING MEANS, MEANS FOR PROVIDING LATERAL ALTERNATE CLEARANCES AT PLATE EDGES, AND ABUTMENT MEANS ON THE CONVEYOR ENGAGEABLE WITH THE PLATES SO AS TO NORMALLY HOLD THE CARDS IN SUBSTANTIALLY UPRIGHT POSITIONS, SAID ABUTMENT MEANS BEING MOVABLE

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