Addressing machine and variable drag drive therefore

Claim 1

A machine for duplicating printed matter from an imprint area of a master card to a selected area on one face of a workpiece comprising: rotary drive means for imparting rotary motion to a first shaft; transfer means driven by said first shaft, said transfer means accepting said workpiece upon which material is to be duplicated and transporting the workpiece continuously along a transfer path through the machine; workpiece moistening means for applying solvent to at least a portion of said face of said workpiece as said workpiece is transported along the transfer path; card feed means mounted on a shaft for delivering a single master card each time its said shaft is rotated through a complete revolution; clutch means connected to transmit rotary motion from an input shaft of said shaft of said card feed means to drive said card feed means only when actuated; means for actuating said clutch when a workpiece reaches a predetermined point on the transfer path, and rotating said shaft of said card feed means through one complete revolution to deliver said single master card with said imprint area in confronting aligned relationship with said moistened portion of said face of said workpiece as said workpiece is transported along the transfer path; resilient coupling means connected to said first shaft and said input shaft of said clutch means for providing a resilient coupling between said first shaft and said input shaft of said clutch means whereby the rotary motion of said input shaft of said clutch means is permitted to lag the rotary motion of said first shaft; adjustable drag means comprising a piston mounted in a cylinder having a variable aperture orifice therein to control the amount of drag, said drag means connected to said card feed means to adjustably inhibit motion thereof, said adjustable drag means and said resilient coupling means cooperating to adjustably inhibit rotational movement of said shaft of said card feed means relative to said first shaft to cause said card feed means to provide an adjustable time lag in the delivery of said master card from said card feed means relative to the transporting of said workpiece through the machine thereby altering the location of the area on said workpiece where the printed matter is to be duplicated.