US3748937A - Card scoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for feeding, scoring and stacking cards. In the feeding device each card is fed from a stack onto a moving platform, the trailing edge of the stack being shuffled by passing over a contoured vertical plate. In the scoring device the card passes between a circular blade and a cylindrical follower mounted on a base of large mass and vertically adjustable on the base. In the stacking device a photoelectric beam traverses the line of travel of the cards and when the beam is interrupted it actuates drive means for moving a conveyor which thus moves intermittently to receive the cards in overlapping relationship. In another aspect the stacking device has two conveyors receiving the cards but with opposite slopes, and a pair of opposed nozzles selectively directing an air stream across the line of travel of the cards causes them to be directed onto either one of the two conveyors.

Description

[451 July 31,1973

[ CARD SCORING DEVICE {75] Inventor: John Albert Long, Toronto, Ontario,

Canada [73] Assignee: Longford Equipment International Limited, Ontario, Canada 22 Filed: July 1, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 158,762

[52] US. Cl. 83/12, 83/89, 83/156, 83/422, 83/424, 83/430, 83/431, 83/506, 83/700 [51] Int. Cl B26d 3/08 [58] Field ofSearch 83/12, 426, 431, 83/506, 505, 424, 430, 156, 422, 507, 699, 700, 89

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,621,743 11/1971 Feighery et a1. 83/431 X 2,336,957 12/1943 Pierce 83/156 X 658,025 9/1900 Smith 83/505 X 1,185,790 6/1916 Greising et al 83/424 X 1,210,454 1/1917 Gagne 83/430 X 1,379,078 5/1921 Bouchard 83/430 X 1,678,410 7/1928 Warrington... 83/12 X 1,863,619 6/1932 Cameron 83/424 ull! 2,796,933 6/1957 Gelleke 83/506 3,194,099 7/1965 Palter 83/156 3,559,516 2/1971 Freeman 83/426 X Primary Examiner-Frank T. Yost AttorneyWestell & Hanley [57] ABSTRACT A device for feeding, scoring and stacking cards. In the feeding device each card is fed from a stack onto a moving platform, the trailing edge of the stack being shuffled by passing over a contoured vertical plate. In the scoring device the card passes between a circular blade and a cylindrical follower mounted on a base of large mass and vertically adjustable on the base. In the stacking device a photoelectric beam traverses the line of travel of the cards and when the beam is interrupted it actuates drive means for moving a conveyor which thus moves intermittently to receive the cards in overlapping relationship. In another aspect the stacking device has two conveyors receiving the cards but with opposite slopes, and a pair of opposed nozzles selectively directing an air stream across the line of travel of the cards causes them to be directed onto either one of the two conveyors.

4 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures lllllll' PATENIEDJULB 1 I973 SHEEI 1 OF 6 INVENTOR. OH N A. LONG FIG. 2

PATENTEDJULB 1 ms SHEET 2 [IF 6 FIG. 4b

INVENTOR. JOHN A LONG PAIENTEU JUL3 I I975 SHEET u or 5 lNVl N'TOR JOHN A. LONG Y PAIENIEB JUL3 1 I973sum 5 or 5 FIG. 10

FIG. 9

lNVENTOR. JOHN A. LONG CARD SCORING. DEVICE The present invention relates to the feeding, scoring, and stacking of cards.

Apparatus presently in use for scoring cards such as greeting cards is limited in output to a maximum of approximately 30,000 cards per hour because of the need to use a platen press to die cut blocks of the cards. Also, the use of conventional feeding, aligning, folding and stacking apparatus would similarly limit the output speed even if faster scoring apparatus were to be used.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved device for scoring cards, using a circular blade and an adjustable circular follower to control the depth of the score, the follower being mounted on a rigid frame.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved device for feeding stacked cards individually to a scorer, using a vertically contoured plate to shuffle the stacked cards.

It is another object of the invention to provide a device for stacking cards whereby an overlap of all cards one with another is achieved prior to stacking.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved device for feeding, scoring, and stacking cards, using the above devices in combination.

An example embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1a is a view in perspective, partly broken away, of feeding, aligning, scoring and folding units in combination;

FIG. lb is a continuation of the view in FIG. 14, showing a stacking unit in combination with the folding unit of FIG. 111;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing a scored card.

FIG. 3 is a perspective vieW of a portion of the aligning unit showing FIG. la;

FIG. 4a is a side view showing the scoring, folding and stacking units shown in FIG. 1a;

FIG. 4b is a side view showing the stacking unit of FIG. 16;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4a;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section taken along theline 66 of FIG. 4a;

FIG. 7 is a cross-section taken along the line 77 of FIG. 4a;

FIG. 8 is a side view, partly in cross-section, of the feeding unit shown in FIG. la;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a portion of the feeding unit showing FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the pair of vertical plates of the feeding unit shown in FIG. 9, showing their relationship to pass single cards;

FIG. 11 is a side view, partly broken away, showing the scoring unit of FIG. 1a; and

FIG. 12 is a view taken along the line 12-l2 of FIG. 11.

The apparatus shown in the drawings consists of afeeding unit 10, analigning unit 12, ascoring unit 14, afolding unit 16 and astacking unit 18.

Feeding unit 10, as seen in FIGS. 1a, 8, 9 and 10, consists of aframe 20 supportingjournalled rollers 22 driven by abelt 24 from a drive motor 28 (see FIG. 4a).Rollers 22 carry a plurality of horizontally disposedbands 26, adjustable in known manner for yaw and for speed, located below a pair of upright, laterally spacedguide walls 30 and forming a movable conveyor platform. Aspacer device 32, positioned betweenwalls 30, comprises a pair of vertically disposedblades 34 and 36 placed back to back.Blade 34 is fixed to a supportingbar 38 andblade 36 bears slidably againstblade 34 by means of abracket 40 carrying anadjustment screw 42.Bar 38 is fixed on ablock 44 which carries a fixedvertical shaft 46. Atoggle lever 48 is attached to the upper end ofshaft 46 while the lower end of the shaft carries athread 50 and is engaged in a threadedsocket 52 in a supportingblock 54 which is slidable on a pair oflateral bars 56 fixed onframe 20. Acompression spring 57 projecting fromsocket 52urges block 44 upwardly and alateral locking bolt 58, threaded into the side ofblock 44, is laterally slidable in avertical slot 59. Afurther bolt 60 releasably locks supportblock 54 on lateral bars 56.

A vertically profiledshuffle plate 61 is mounted, facingblade 36, on anadjustable bracket assembly 62 which is fixed on alateral supporting bar 64 fixed onframe 20. The face ofplate 61 is profiled from its top edge to its bottom edge to present sequentially a shallowconcave portion 66, a shallowconvex portion 67, a steeperconcave shoulder 68, and a shallowconvex portion 69. A wheel keyed on alateral shaft 71, which is journalled onframe 20 and driven by a oneway clutch (not shown), rotates clockwise as seen in FIG. 8 and its periphery projects slightly beyond the exposed face ofouter blade 36. Wheel 70 is disengageable from the clutch for free rotation.

Aligningunit 12, as seen in FIGS. la and 3, consists of a frame supportingjournalled roller 82 driven by a belt 83 (see FIG. 4a) and carrying a plurality of horizontally disposedbands 84 forming a movable conveyor platform located in the plane of the platform formed bybands 26 of feedingunit 10. As seen in FIG. 3, a row ofrollers 86 is journally mounted on a series ofbars 88 which are in turn mounted adjustably onframe 80.Rollers 86 are biased towards aflange 90 also mounted onframe 80 and in line withbands 84.

Scoringunit 14, as seen in FIGS. la, 4, 11 and 12 comprises a circular knife keyed on ahorizontal shaft 102 which is journalled in row of mountingbrackets 104 each fixed on across bar 106. A pair of spacedbrackets 108, fixed on aframe 109, carry cross-bar 106 which is vertically adjustable in the brackets by means ofopposed screws 110 bearing against the cross-bar.Shaft 102 has aflexible coupling 111 and the end of the shaft remote fromknife 100 is connected withgear train 112.Shaft 102 is preloaded inbearings 113 located in mountingbrackets 104. A plurality of guide rollers 1 14 are keyed toshaft 102 and each guide roller has a centrally disposedcircumferential rubber ring 116.

Afollower 118 is suspended aboveknife 100 to provide a circumferential bearing surface which carries adull scoring groove 120 ofi'set from the plane ofknife 100.Follower 118 is keyed on ahorizontal shaft 122 which is journalled in a pair ofbrackets 124 and 126 suspended from acrossplate 128 bolted ontoframe 109.Shaft 122 is pre-loaded by acompression spring 127, inspherical bearings 129 located inbrackets 124 and 126.Bracket 124 is suspended beneathplate 128 by avertical rod 130 having its upper end urged, by acompression spring 131, against abevel 132 slidable horizontally in ahousing 134. One end ofbevel 132 is anchored in aslide 135 which is movable along arigid rail 136 by means of anadjustment screw 138.Rail 136, together withplate 128, are of large mass to provide rigidity. A pair ofcylindrical grip rollers 140 are located on each side ofshaft 102, each grip roller being driven at one end bygear train 112 synchronously withshaft 102. Apulley 142 is keyed onto one end of theshaft 143 of one ofrollers 140 for connection by abelt 144 to drivemotor 28. A pair offurther shafts 146, located one above eachgrip roller 140 are each mounted in a pair ofjournal boxes 148 which are in turn mounted on the sides offrame 109.Shafts 146 are freely rotatable injournal boxes 148. A plurality ofdisc guide rollers 150 are mounted onshafts 146 and each guide roller is adjustable laterally along the shafts by means of aset screw 151. Eachguideroller 150 carries a centrally disposedcircumferential rubber ring 152. Eachjournal box 148 is mounted on avertical rod 153 which is threaded at its lower end in ablock 154 fixed onframe 109 and which carries aknurled head 156 at its upper end.Journal box 148 is urged downwardly by acompression spring 158 against ashoulder 160 onrod 153 to take up any slack in the vertical adjustment ofshafts 146.

Foldingunit 16 as seen in FIGS. 4 to 7 inclusive, comprises aframe 180 carrying a series ofendless bands 182, 184, and 186 which are roller oriented to fold a scored card over on itself.Band 182 extends the length of frame180 in the plane of the conveyor platform formed bybands 84 of aligningunit 12 and travels over plurality ofsupport rollers 188, returning over a plurality of singleidler rollers 190, a plurality of doubleidler rollers 192, and adouble drive roller 194. In one portion of itstravel band 182 leavessupport rollers 188 and moves over asupport flange 196 as seen in FIG. 7. Band 184 lies besideband 182 in the first portion of its traveladjacent scoring unit 14 as seen in FIG. 5, and then over a plurality oftilt rollers 198, returning over singleidler rollers 200, doubleidler rollers 192, and doubledouble drive roller 194. Sinceband 184 turns over during its travel, a 180degree twist 201 is imparted to the band, on its return path between two ofidler rollers 200.Band 186 is located above the initial portion of the line of travel ofband 182 and travels, parallel toband 182, under a plurality ofsupport rollers 202 returning over a plurality ofidler rollers 204 and over adrive roller 206. Allrollers 188, 190, 192, 194, 198, 200 and 202 are journalled onbrackets 207 fixed toframe 180.Drive rollers 194 and 206 are driven bybelts 208 fromdrive motor 28. A laterally angledfoldover guide strip 210, fixed toframe 180, overliessupport rollers 188.

Stackingunit 18, as seen in FIGS. 1b and 4, consists of aset 220 of mutually facing endless bands sloping upwardly from the feedout end offolding unit 16, and aset 222 of mutually facing endless bands sloping downwardly from said line of travel. Eachset 220 and 222 of bands consists of a pair ofguide bands 224 located above a pair ofconveyor bands 226 forming a conveyor platform. Each pair ofbands 224 and 226 travel overguide rollers 228 and in addition each pair ofconveyor bands 226 travel over adrive roller 230 which is driven by abelt 232 from anintermittent clutch 234 connected by afurther drive belt 236 to drivemotor 28. Downwardly slopingbands 224 ofset 222 and upwardly slopingbands 226 ofset 220 pass individually over separatecylindrical rollers 228a freely joumalled side by side on acommon shaft 229. L0- cated adjacent the feedout end offolding unit 16, and immediately besidebands 182 and 184, is aphotoelectric unit 240 consisting of alight source 241 projecting a vertical beam across the plane of the path formed bybands 182 and 184 to impinge on aphotocell 242 which is connected electrically with clutch 234 whereby the clutch is engaged when the light impinging on the photocell is interrupted. Succeedingphotoelectric unit 240 and immediately beyond the feedout end offolding unit 16 are a pair ofopposed nozzles 244 directed vertically across the feedout path frombands 182, 184.Nozzles 244 are connected by conduits 246 to an air pressure source (not shown) and are valved to operate, by a counter (not shown) alternately on a predetermined cycle. A separate lateralendless conveyor 248 is located adjacent the feedout end of each set ofbands 220 and 222 remote from foldingunit 16.

In the operation of the device a stack of flat, unfoldedcards 250 is maintained in the well of feedingunit 10. formed bylateral guide walls 30,blade 36 andshuffle plate 61, as seen in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 shows the lower end ofblade 34 set in relation tobands 26 to allow a single sheet to pass between that blade and the bands. The gap between the bottom edge ofblade 34 and the upper surface ofbands 26 is adjustable by rotatingshaft 46 by means oftoggle lever 48 and clampingblock 44 in its adjusted position by means ofbolt 58. In the case oflighter cards 250 theleading edges 252 of the cards are worked downwardly by the clockwise rotation of wheel -while for heavier cards the wheel is disengageable from its one-way clutch to rotate freely. Contouredplate 61 facilitates the lateral separation ofcards 250 in the stack by shuffling their trailingedges 254.Brackets 62 enablesshufi'le plate 60 to be adjusted for correct orientation to allow the trailing edges ofsheets 250 to be shuffled. The lower edge ofblade 36 is tapered towardsblade 34 and is ofiset upwardly from the lower edge ofblade 34 to allow the next succeedingcard 250 to move forward and bear againstblade 34, which facilitates the lateral separation of the cards, especially where embossed cards are being fed through the assembly.Blade 36 is adjusted byscrew 42. The gap between the bottom edge ofblade 34 and the upper surface ofbands 26 is adjustable by rotatingshaft 46 by means oftoggle lever 48 and clampingblock 44 in its adjusted position by means ofbolt 58.Bracket 62 enablesshuffle plate 61 to be adjusted for correct orientation to allow the trailing edges ofsheets 250 to be shuffled.Support 54 is adjustable laterally on bars 49 and is secured in adjusted position bybolt 60.

Eachcard 250 is fed bybands 26 ontobands 84 of aligningunit 12 where it is aligned byrollers 86, as seen in FIG. 3.Rollers 86 are biased sufficiently to urge one side edge of eachcard 250 againstflange 90 as the card is advanced bybands 84 towardsscoring unit 14, thus orientingleading edge 252 ofcard 250 to advance squarely ontoscoring unit 14.

Aligned card 250 is fed frombands 84 of aligningunit 12 onto the nip between the nearest grip roller and the nearest guide rollers ofscoring unit 14 to advance the card through the space betweenknife 100 andfollower 118 which cuts ascore 256 in the card as shown in FIG. 2. To vary the depth ofscore 256, pref- 118 pivots about thatspherical bearing 129 remote from the follower.Guide rollers 150 are adjusted laterally togrip card 250 at all times as it passes throughscoring unit 14.Guide rollers 150 are also adjustable as a set byrod 153 to vary the grip pressure which varies the diameter of rubber rings 152 on the guide rollers to compensate for increased thickness of the card resulting from embossing and/or from the ink on the card. The various elements inscoring unit 14 combine to impart a maximum rigidity against movement of knife 1 12 or 118 while in operation; thusflexible coupling 111 removes vibrations onshaft 102 generated bygear train 112,bearings 113 and 129 are preloaded to eliminate play inshafts 102 and 122 respectively, and the unit on eachshaft 130 is mounted, namely cross bar' 128 andrail 136, is of heavy weight to provide a maximum amount of inertia to the assembly which carriesfollower 118. Groove 120 onfollower 118 is an auxiliary feature allowing for dull scoring of cards (at a reduced rate of output) which is achieved by moving the knife and groove into coplaner relationship.

After eachscore card 250 passes throughscoring unit 14 it enters foldingunit 16 shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 to 7. As seen in FIG. 5,card 250 is gripped betweenbands 184 and 186 and it also lies acrossband 182 which is travelling withband 184. Whencard 250 passes underflange 210,band 182 folds the card aboutscore 252 as seen in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Upon leavingfolding unit 16, foldedcard 250 passes through the beam ofphotoelectric unit 240 and interrupts the current throughphotocell 242 which actuates clutch 234 to drivebelts 224 and 226 of stackingunit 18.Card 250 also passesnozzles 244 as it leavesfolding unit 16 and these nozzles are operated cyclically to direct, by an air stream, a group of a predetermined number of the cards alternately ontobands 224 of either set 220 onpair 222 of the bands. A counter (not shown) associated withphotoelectric unit 240 controls the cyclical operation ofnozzles 244. When eachcard 250 passes onto either ofbands 226 it is carried forward to drop onto alateral conveyer 248 which is operated intermittently, in conjunction with the counter associated withphotelectric unit 240, to transfer stacks of the cards away from the outlet of stacking unit 218. To prevent scratching of glazed cards it is most important to obtain an overlap of all the cards passing ontobands 226.Photoelectric unit 240 accomplishes this by actuatingbands 226 only when acard 250 is approaching the bands; consequently the bands move only intermittently and compensate for varying gaps between successive cards being fed onto the bands. It will be appreciated that the apparatus may be operated with a single set of bands 226) horizontally disposed, and for such anembodiment nozzles 244 are unnecessary.

I claim:

1. A device for scoring a card, comprising:

a circular knife mounted ,on a first rotatable shaft;

a cylindrical follower mounted on a second rotatable shaft and located adjacent the knife, the axis of the follower being parallel to the axis of the knife, the second shaft being mounted on a base of large mass and being adjustable on the base to vary the gap between the knife and the follower; and

roller means rotatable to move the card through the gap between the knife and the follower; said first and second shafts being preloaded in journal bearmgs.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the first shaft and the roller means are synchronously rotatable and the second shaft is freely rotatable.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the first shaft includes a flexible coupling.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the rollers comprise a pair of cylindrical grip rollers located one on each side of the first shaft and parallel therewith, and a plurality of disc guide rollers mounted on a pair of further shafts located one above each shaft roller, the guide rollers being adjustable laterally along the further shafts and the further shafts being adjustable vertically with respect to the grip rollers to vary the gap between the disc rollers and the grip rollers.

Claims (4)

1. A device for scoring a card, comprising: a circular knife mounted on a first rotatable shaft; a cylindrical follower mounted on a second rotatable shaft and located adjacent the knife, the axis of the follower being parallel to the axis of the knife, the second shaft being mounted on a base of large mass and being adjustable on the base to vary the gap between the knife and the follower; and roller means rotatable to move the card through the gap between the knife and the follower; said first and second shafts being preloaded in journal bearings.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the first shaft and the roller means are synchronously rotatable and the second shaft is freely rotatable.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the first shaft includes a flexible coupling.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the rollers comprise a pair of cylindrical grip rollers located one on each side of the first shaft and parallel therewith, and a plurality of disc guide rollers mounted on a pair of further shafts located one above each shaft roller, the guide rollers being adjustable laterally along the further shafts and the further shafts being adjustable vertically with respect to the grip rollers to vary the gap between the disc rollers and the grip rollers.

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