US3763775A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Card imprinting machine
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1972-09-11
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Granted: 1973-10-09
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Expires: 1992-09-11
Abstract
Abstract A card imprinting machine having a means for both automatically setting the edge guides for the cards in accordance with the desired margin for indicia to be imprinted thereon from a side edge of the card, and for simultaneously causing the printing head to automatically rotate for printing at a desired margin from the leading edge of each card passing through the printing couple.
Inventors
- 👤 W Miles
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 21:07
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41F; B41F21/00; B41F13/00; B41F13/08; B41F13/10; B41F13/12; B41F13/14
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
223 words
A card imprinting machine comprising: manually operable dial means for setting both the side edge margins and the leading edge margin for indicia to be imprinted on cards fed through the machine; side edge guide means responsive to said dial means for automatically locating a stack of the cards laterally depending on the desired side edge margin as set by said dial means; a main rotary shaft mounted for rotation about an axis substantially transverse to the direction in which the cards are fed through the machine; a printing head mounted on said shaft; an impression roll spaced beneath said shaft in parallel relation therewith; means for feeding each of said cards from a card rack toward said printing head; means responsive to said dial means for automatically causing said printing head to be set on said shaft from a neutralinitial position to a set angular position in relation to said impression roll depending on the desired leading edge margin as set by said dial means, and back again to said neutral-initial position; and means for rotating said main rotary shaft and said printing head mounted thereon in said set angular disposition, whereby said printing head will imprint indicia on each card fed through the machine at the desired margins from both the leading edge and from the side edge of each card.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
223 words
A card imprinting machine comprising: manually operable dial means for setting both the side edge margins and the leading edge margin for indicia to be imprinted on cards fed through the machine; side edge guide means responsive to said dial means for automatically locating a stack of the cards laterally depending on the desired side edge margin as set by said dial means; a main rotary shaft mounted for rotation about an axis substantially transverse to the direction in which the cards are fed through the machine; a printing head mounted on said shaft; an impression roll spaced beneath said shaft in parallel relation therewith; means for feeding each of said cards from a card rack toward said printing head; means responsive to said dial means for automatically causing said printing head to be set on said shaft from a neutralinitial position to a set angular position in relation to said impression roll depending on the desired leading edge margin as set by said dial means, and back again to said neutral-initial position; and means for rotating said main rotary shaft and said printing head mounted thereon in said set angular disposition, whereby said printing head will imprint indicia on each card fed through the machine at the desired margins from both the leading edge and from the side edge of each card.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
183 words
The machine according to claim 1 wherein said printing head is removably mounted within a printing feed roller freely mounted on said main rotary shaft, a compressor providing a source of compressed air for the machine, said automatic setting means including a first compressed air cylinder and a second compressed air cylinder each operatively interconnected with said compressor in parallel through a common first solenoid valve, which, when actuated, effects an ''''open'''' operating condition of the machine, a first normally closed spool valve in the connection between said first solenoid valve and said second cYlinder, said setting means further including means freely rotatable on said shaft and being operatively interconnected with said second cylinder, and means operatively interconnected with said first cylinder for coupling and uncoupling said freely rotatable means to said printing feed roller, actuation of said first cylinder causing said freely rotatable means to be coupled to said printing feed roller and further causing said first spool valve to open whereby said second cylinder is actuated and said coupled printing feed roller is rotated on said shaft to its neutral-initial position.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
195 words
The machine according to claim 2 further including a clutch means for rotating said main rotary shaft from an electric motor, a solenoid switch arrangement for actuation of said clutch means, a switch for manually operating said solenoid switch to effect a ''''run'''' operating condition of the machine, means for conveying the cards from said card feed means and into the nip of said printing feed roll-impression roll, a first card sensing element mounted on a rod disposed above the top surface of said conveying means, said sensing element resting against said top surface when no cards are passing through the machine and said sensing element being moved upwardly for rotation of its rod when cards are passing therebeneath, said rod having a first lever thereon arranged in such a manner as to also close said switch as said sensing element is moved away from said top surface during contact by the conveyed cards, a second lever on said rod and in contact with an irregular surface of a disc mounted on said shaft when said switch is made to open for sensing the completion of the last full revolution of said main rotary shaft.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
102 words
The machine according to claim 3 wherein said disc is circular and has a flat peripheral portion, said second lever being normally in contact with the circular portion of said disc while said sensing element rests against said top surface, said first and second levers being angularly related with respect to one another on said rod so that said first lever is in contact with said switch to close same either manually or while said card sensing element being is contacted by the conveyed cards, said first lever moving away from said switch for de-actuating said clutch by opening said solenoid switch.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
35 words
The machine according to claim 4 wherein an extension element is fixedly mounted on said shaft, a catch element on said clutch being thereby movable into engagement with said extension element when said is de-actuated.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
129 words
The machine according to claim 2 wherein said first air cylinder and said second air cylinder are, alternately, each operatively interconnected with said compressor in parallel through a common second solenoid valve which, when actuated, effects a ''''closed'''' operating condition of the machine, a second normally closed spool valve in the connection between said second solenoid valve and said first cylinder, whereby initial actuation of said second air cylinder causes said coupled printing feed roller to be rotated on said shaft from its neutral-initial position to the angular position as set by said dial means, and complete actuation of said second air cylinder causes said second spool valve to open whereby said first air cylinder is actuated and said printing feed roller is uncoupled from said second air cylinder.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
75 words
The machine according to claim 6 further including means fixedly mounted on said main rotary shaft and being operated by actuation of said first cylinder for connecting and disconnecting said printing feed roller to said main rotary shaft respectively for rotation therewith at the same time as said printing feed roller is uncoupled from said second air cylinder, and for rotation independent thereof while said printing feed roller is coupled to said second air cylinder.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
105 words
The machine according to claim 6 wherein said connecting and disconnecting means includes a transverse rod member rotatably connected to the piston rod of saId first cylinder, a connecting lever, a cam element on said transverse rod, an upwardly biased bar member mounted on the machine and located between said connecting lever and said cam element, said connecting lever being made to engage and disengage said printing feed roller for respectively connecting and disconnecting it to said main rotary shaft as said bar member respectively contactingly disengages and engages said connecting lever upon contact by said cam element during rotation of said transverse rod member.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
90 words
The machine according to claim 6 wherein said freely rotatable means includes a locking lever movable into and out of engagement with said printing feed roller by said coupling and uncoupling means so as to be in engagement with said printing feed roller for rotation thereof until actuation of said second cylinder is completed at which time said lever is disengaged by said coupling and uncoupling means, said freely rotatable means further including a pinion gear intermeshed with a rack gear element on the piston rod of said second cylinder.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
143 words
The machine according to claim 9 wherein said side edge guide means includes a first side edge guide plate located between said card feeding means and said printing head, a third compressed air cylinder having a piston rod connected to said first side edge guide plate for movement thereof parallel to the longitudinal axis of said main rotary shaft, second and third side edge guide plates constituting said card stack, a fourth and fifth compressed air cylinder each having a piston rod connected respectively to said second and third side edge guide plates for inward movement thereof parallel to the direction of movement of said first guide plate, said third, fourth and fifth cylinders each being operatively connected with said compressor in parallel through said common first solenoid valve and, alternately, operatively connected with said compressor in parallel through said second solenoid valve.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
75 words
The machine according to claim 9 wherein said dial means includes a rotatable dial wheel operatively connected with a rotatable first cylinder block having stop elements set thereon each at a predetermined distance from one end thereof in relation to the angular position to be set for said printing head, said rack gear contacting one of said stop elements when actuated by said second cylinder for causing said pinion gear to rotate a predetermined amount.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
98 words
The machine according to claim 9 wherein said coupling and uncoupling means includes a transverse rod member rotatably connected to the piston rod of said first air cylinder, a cam plate pivotally mounted at one end to the machine and being pivotally mounted at its other end on said rod member, said cam plate being movable into and out of contacting engagement with said locking lever upon respective opposite rotation of said transverse rod as said first cylinder piston rod is actuated, whereby said locking lever is made to respectively disengage and engage with said printing feed roller.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
75 words
The machine according to claim 12 wherein said dial means includes a rotatable dial wheel operatively connected with a rotatable first cylinder block having stop elements set thereon each at a predetermined distance from one end thereof in relation to the angular position to be set for said printing head, said rack gear contacting one of said stop elements when actuated by said second cylinder for causing said pinion gear to rotate a predetermined amount.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
117 words
The machine according to claim 13 wherein said dial means further includes rotatable second, third and fourth cylinder blocks each operatively connected with said dial wheel and each being associated respectively with said third, fourth and fifth compressed air cylinders and each having stop elements set thereon each at a predetermined distance from one end of their respective cylinder blocks in relation to the side edge margins as set by said dial wheel, said piston of each said third, fourth and fifth air cylinder coNtacting one of said stop elements of their respective cylinder blocks when actuated by said second cylinder for causing said respective first, second and third side edge plates to move a predetermined amount.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
88 words
The machine according to claim 1 wherein means are provided for spring biassing said impression roll against said printing feed roll for rotation by said printing feed roll, a semi-circular disc mounted on said main rotary shaft near each end thereof for contact with said impression roll, each said disc having a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of said printing feed roll whereby said impression roll is intermittently moved away from said printing feed roll when contacted by said discs during rotation of said main rotary shaft.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
45 words
The machine according to claim 15 further including means operated by one of said semi-circular discs for arresting the movement of said cards passing beneath said printing feed roll while said impression roll is moved by said semi-circular discs away from said printing feed roll.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
81 words
The machine according to claim 16 wherein said card arresting means comprises a plurality of teeth operatively connected for movement into and out of the path of card travel, said teeth being connected through linkage elements having a portion thereof lying directly above said main rotary shaft so that, upon contact with said linkage elements portion, said one semi-circular disc causes said teeth to be moved out of the path of card travel while said feed roll rotates said impression roll.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
38 words
The machine according to claim 15 further including means for automatically locking said impression roll at its position away from said printing feed roller so that said main rotary shaft may be rotated without contacting said impression roll.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
48 words
The machine according to claim 18 wherein said automatic locking means includes a locking arm movable into and out of locking engagement with a support arm for said impression roll when said impression roll is moved away from said printing feed roll during contact by said semi-circular discs.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
76 words
The machine according to claim 19 wherein a counter mechanism is provided for counting each of the cards conveyed through the machine, a counter recorder electrically interconnected with said counter mechanism, a counter arm on said mechanism located adjacent said support arm for said impression roll so that, each time said impression roll moves into rolling engagement with said printing feed roll, said counter arm is actuated by said support arm for operating said counter recorder.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
138 words
The machine according to claim 19 wherein a second card sensing element is mounted on a second rod disposed above the top surface of said conveying means, said second sensing element resting against said top surface when no cards are passing through the machine and said second sensing element being moved upwardly for rotation of its rod when cards are passing therebeneath, said second rod having a first catch element thereon, a second catch element pivotally mounted on the machine for movement into latching engagement with said first catch element when said second card sensing element is moved away from said top surface by the conveyed cards passing therebeneath, said second catch element being interconnected with said locking arm to thereby move said locking arm out of locking engagement when said first and second catch elements are interengaged.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
31 words
The machine according to claim 21 wherein an eccentric cam element is mounted on said main rotary shaft for pivotal movement of said second catch element during rotation of said shaft.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-10-08 | 1977-04-09 | 1977-10-09 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-10-08 | 1981-04-09 | 1981-10-09 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-10-08 | 1985-04-09 | 1985-10-09 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |