Apparatus for printing upon moving sheets, paper or the like with automatic typesetting

Claim 1

An apparatus for printing upon an article comprising; a rotating drum having an opening in its periphery, a rotating shaft in said drum, at least one drive pulley in said drum engageable with said rotating shaft, guide means in said drum spaced from said drive pulley and adjacent said opening, at least one endless belt having a plurality of spaced type sections disposed therealong, trained over said drive pulley and said guide means and movable through a path bringing a selected one of said plurality of type sections into a position aligned with said opening, transmission means selectively connectable between said drive pulley and said rotating shaft for engaging said drive pulley with said rotating shaft to move said endless belt and position a selected one of said type sections in said opening, control means externally of said rotating drum for activating said transmission means to selectively connect and disconnect said drive pulley and said rotating shaft; and means for advancing the article to be printed into association with the surface of said drum and said selected type section to impress an impression of said selected type section onto the article.

Claim 2

An apparatus for printing upon an article comprising; a rotating drum having an opening in its periphery, a rotating shaft in said drum, at least one drive pulley in said drum engageable with said rotating shaft, guide means in said drum spaced from said drive pulley and adjacent said opening, at least one endless belt having a plurality of spaced type sections disposed therealong, trained over said drive pulley and said guide means and movable through a path bringing a selected one of said plurality of type sections into a position aligned with said opening, transmission means selectively connectable between said drive pulley and said rotating shaft for engaging said drive pulley with said rotating shaft to move said endless belt and position a selected one of said type sections in said opening, control means externally of said rotating drum for activating said transmission means to selectively connect and disconnect said drive pulley and said rotating shaft; and means for advancing the article to be printed into association with the surface of said drum and said selected type section to impress an impression of said selected type section onto the article.

Claim 3

An apparatus for printing upon articles comprising: a rotatable horizontal drum having a longitudinal opening in its peripheral surface; printing means including movable flexible endless belts aligned side by side longitudinally of the drum in at least one row and arranged within the drum, each of the endless belts being provided with a plurality of spaced printing type on its outer peripheral surface, the printing type being positionable outside the drum at the opening when most remote from the center of the drum, power transmitting means provided for the belts respectively and each including an electromagnetic clutch, first slip ring segments for feeding current to the electromagnetic clutches respectively, said first slip ring segments being mounted substantially on the drum and arranged on circular lines substantially concentric with the axis of the drum, means for detecting the displacement of each of the printing means as an electric pulse every time the printing means is displaced by an amount corresponding to one spacing between said type, second slip ring segments for feeding current to the detecting means respectively, said second slip ring segments being mounted substantially on the drum and arranged on circular lines substantially concentric with the axis of the drum, means for detecting a reference point on each of said belts, control means for selectively determining the duration of energization of said electromagnetic clutch based on inputs thereto from said displacement detecting and reference point detecting means, so as to cause said belt to bring a specified printing type thereon to the outside position at the drum opening.

Claim 4

An apparatus for printing upon articles comprising: a rotatable horizontal drum having a longitudinal opening in its peripheral surface; printing means including movable flexible endless belts aligned side by side longitudinally of the drum in at least one row and arranged within the drum, each of the endless belts being provided with a plurality of spaced printing type on its outer peripheral surface, the printing type being positionable outside the drum at the opening when most remote from the center of the drum, power transmitting means provided for the belts respectively and each including an electromagnetic clutch, first slip ring segments for feeding current to the electromagnetic clutches respectively, said first slip ring segments being mounted substantially on the drum and arranged on circular lines substantially concentric with the axis of the drum, means for detecting the displacement of each of the printing means as an electric pulse every time the printing means is displaced by an amount corresponding to one spacing between said type, second slip ring segments for feeding current to the detecting means respectively, said second slip ring segments being mounted substantially on the drum and arranged on circular lines substantially concentric with the axis of the drum, means for detecting a reference point on each of said belts, control means for selectively determining the duration of energization of said electromagnetic clutch based on inputs thereto from said displacement detecting and reference point detecting means, so as to cause said belt to bring a specified printing type thereon to the outside position at the drum opening.