BOOKBINDING
United States Patent 3566927
A method for the conversion of strips of zigzag wire into a tubular form suitable for binding perforated sheets, comprising feeding the strip over an anvil in a step-by-step fashion, and clamping the strip whilst it is stationary so that the edges can be bent over the anvil by strikers situated on either side of the anvil.
US Patent References:
Machine for shaping wires which are intended for binding perforated leaflets
Martin - February 1940 - 2190722
Wire insert for tires
Spitz - April 1958 - 2832392
Apparatus for making wire articles
Smith - January 1959 - 2868236
Wire forming apparatus
Smith - February 1959 - 2874731
BOOK-BINDING MACHINES
Liouville - June 1969 - 3451081
Machine for shaping wires which are intended for binding perforated leaflets
Martin - February 1940 - 2190722
Wire insert for tires
Spitz - April 1958 - 2832392
Apparatus for making wire articles
Smith - January 1959 - 2868236
Wire forming apparatus
Smith - February 1959 - 2874731
BOOK-BINDING MACHINES
Liouville - June 1969 - 3451081
Application Number:
04/781722
Publication Date:
03/02/1971
Filing Date:
12/06/1968
View Patent Images:
Export Citation:
Assignee:
James Burn & Co. Ltd. (Surrey, EN)
Primary Class:
Other Classes:
72/191, 140/82
International Classes:
B21F45/16; B42B5/10; B21F45/00; B42B5/00; B21F45/00
Field of Search:
140/71,82 11/1 72/187,191
Primary Examiner:
Larson, Lowell A.
Claims:
We claim
1. Apparatus for converting strips of zigzagged wire to be slotted tubular form as set forth herein, comprising means for feeding the strip longitudinally, means for momentarily arresting the feed of each prong as it reaches a shaping station, means for clamping each prong at that station with its tip and root overhanging an anvil on which it rests and means at the shaping station arranged to strike the overhanging portions of a clamped prong to cause them to conform to a shape determined by the anvil, said means comprising a pair of rotors disposed with their axes parallel to the longitudinal axis of the strip and strikers which project radially from said rotors so that the parts of the prongs which overhand the anvil lie in the path of the strikes so as to be struck by them in passing.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the said rotors have helical scrolls in which the tips and roots engage so as to constitute the strip feeding means.
3. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which each scroll has a portion lying in a plane at right angles to its axis and serving to arrest the feed of each prong momentarily while it is being shaped.
4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the strikers are housed in the grooves of the scrolls.
5. Apparatus according to claim 1 having a number of strikers at the shaping station arranged one after the other in the direction of movement of the strip at progressively decreasing distances from the centerline of the strip.
6. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which means are provided at the shaping station for centering the strip immediately before it is clamped.
7. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which the said means are in the form of cam surfaces on the helically grooved rollers.
8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which the clamping means also serve to indent that part of each prong which is midway between its tip and its root.
9. Apparatus for converting strips of zigzagged wire to the slotted tubular form as set forth herein, comprising means for feeding strip longitudinally to and through a shaping station, an anvil at said shaping station adapted to support said strip with the tip and root of each prong laterally overhanging it and means disposed laterally of said anvil on each side thereof for rotation about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the strip and having radial projection adapted on rotation of said means to strike and overhanging tips and roots in passing.
10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wh in which the extremities of said projections are rounded whereby to ensure substantially rolling action between them and the tips and roots of the prongs.
11. Apparatus according to claim 9 in which said rotary means are rollers and are formed with radial housings for said projections and in which means are provided for radial adjustment of the projections in the housing and for fixing them in any adjusted position.
12. Apparatus according to claim 9 which said feeding means comprise rollers formed with helical grooves in which the tips and prongs of the zigzag strip engage.
13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 in which said feeding means comprise a pair of rollers formed with helical grooves in which the tips and prongs of the zigzag strip engage and in which said rotary means are extensions of said rollers.
1. Apparatus for converting strips of zigzagged wire to be slotted tubular form as set forth herein, comprising means for feeding the strip longitudinally, means for momentarily arresting the feed of each prong as it reaches a shaping station, means for clamping each prong at that station with its tip and root overhanging an anvil on which it rests and means at the shaping station arranged to strike the overhanging portions of a clamped prong to cause them to conform to a shape determined by the anvil, said means comprising a pair of rotors disposed with their axes parallel to the longitudinal axis of the strip and strikers which project radially from said rotors so that the parts of the prongs which overhand the anvil lie in the path of the strikes so as to be struck by them in passing.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the said rotors have helical scrolls in which the tips and roots engage so as to constitute the strip feeding means.
3. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which each scroll has a portion lying in a plane at right angles to its axis and serving to arrest the feed of each prong momentarily while it is being shaped.
4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the strikers are housed in the grooves of the scrolls.
5. Apparatus according to claim 1 having a number of strikers at the shaping station arranged one after the other in the direction of movement of the strip at progressively decreasing distances from the centerline of the strip.
6. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which means are provided at the shaping station for centering the strip immediately before it is clamped.
7. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which the said means are in the form of cam surfaces on the helically grooved rollers.
8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which the clamping means also serve to indent that part of each prong which is midway between its tip and its root.
9. Apparatus for converting strips of zigzagged wire to the slotted tubular form as set forth herein, comprising means for feeding strip longitudinally to and through a shaping station, an anvil at said shaping station adapted to support said strip with the tip and root of each prong laterally overhanging it and means disposed laterally of said anvil on each side thereof for rotation about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the strip and having radial projection adapted on rotation of said means to strike and overhanging tips and roots in passing.
10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wh in which the extremities of said projections are rounded whereby to ensure substantially rolling action between them and the tips and roots of the prongs.
11. Apparatus according to claim 9 in which said rotary means are rollers and are formed with radial housings for said projections and in which means are provided for radial adjustment of the projections in the housing and for fixing them in any adjusted position.
12. Apparatus according to claim 9 which said feeding means comprise rollers formed with helical grooves in which the tips and prongs of the zigzag strip engage.
13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 in which said feeding means comprise a pair of rollers formed with helical grooves in which the tips and prongs of the zigzag strip engage and in which said rotary means are extensions of said rollers.
Description:
This invention relates to the manufacture of wire binding elements for perforated sheets.
In the WIRE-O system of binding perforated sheets which we have perfected and which formed the subject of Pat. No. 447,231 the binding elements are lengths of wire bent so as to form curved prongs on which the sheets are impaled. At the time at which the impaling process is carried out, each binding elements is in the form of a tube having a longitudinal slot in its wall the final step in the binding process is to close the slot by brining the closed ends of the prongs into their open ends.
The invention is concerned with the manufacture of the binding elements in the form in which they exist at the binding or sheet impaling stage, i.e., in the slotted tube form.
In the manufacture of such elements, it is usual for a length of wire first of all t be converted to the so-called "zigzag" form in which it assumes the shape of a flat comb of indefinite length the prongs of which are closed at their tips and open at their bases ro roots where they are connected to their neighbors by aligned lengths of wire forming the stock or spine of the comb so that the pitch of the prongs corresponds to the pitch of the perforations in the sheets to be bound. A long length of such flat zigzag material is then brought to the slotted tube form by suitable bending of the prongs.
The closed ends of the prongs will be referred to herein as the "tips" of the prongs and the lengths of wire separating successive prongs will be referred to as the "roots" of the prongs.
According to the invention, the conversion from the zigzag to the slotted tube condition is effected by feeding the wire over an anvil in a step-by-step fashion, and, while the strip is held stationary, clamping it so that the tips and roots of the prongs overhang the anvil striking the overhanging portion of each prong to cause it to conform to a shape determined by the anvil.
The bending can be effected in a single stage by using one striker, or in several stages, which is preferred, by using a number of strikers or "hammers." In the latter case, the first striker bends the prongs near their ends and the second at a point closer to the clamp and so on.
The intermittent feed can be effected in various ways as, for example, by means of a ratchet mechanism or other mechanism having a reciprocating or oscillating motion. It is, however, much preferable to use for the feeding of the strip a continuously rotated mechanism and, in particular, a rotary indexing wheel having a helical groove or scroll in which the tips and roots of the prongs are engaged and which has "straight" portions, i.e., portions lying in planes at right angles to the axis of the wheel which maintain the strip at rest at the instant at which a prong is to be acted on by a hammer or hammers, the later being carried by the wheel.
The final bending operation to close the binder after the sheets to be bound have been impaled on its prongs if facilitated if the prongs are provided midway along their length with a kink which acts as a hinge. Such a kink can very conveniently be provided as a result of the clamping of the teeth of the zigzag strip while these are being shaped or formed by the strikers or hammers.
The invention will now be explained in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given by way of example.
FIG. 1 shows a length of zigzag strips;
FIG. 2 shows a length of the slotted tube;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a machine in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the machine shown in FIG. 3;
FIG 5 shows one convolution of a scroll of the machine of FIG. 3;
FIGS. 6 to 9 are sections taken through FIG. 3 at VI to IX respectively and show the steps of converting the zigzag strip to a slotted tubular form; and
FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C show three examples of hammers or strikers which can be used.
The strip 10 shown in FIG. 1 is comblike, having prongs 14 closed at their tips 16 and open at their roots 18 where they are connected by lengths of wire 20. In the condition of use illustrated in FIG. 2, the prongs 10 have been curved so that perforated sheets can be impaled. That operation having been performed, the binding completed by bringing the tips 16 of the prongs into their roots or open ends 18, which is facilitated by a kink 24 in each prong.
Referring to FIGS. 3 onwards the machine has a feed table 26 on which the zigzag strip 10 is longitudinally fed. It is thus presented to a pair of stepped rollers 28, 30.
As will be seen, the stepped roller 28 is provided with a helical groove or scroll 32 the pitch of which is that of the prongs of the zigzag strip and the width of which is the dimension P in FIG. 1.
The stepped roller 30 has a similar groove or scroll 34 of the same pitch but of opposite hand and the width of which is that of a tip of the prong 12 of the zigzag strip.
It will be clear that rotation of the cylinders in opposite directions with the zigzag strip engaged in their grooves will result in longitudinal movement of the strip over the table 26.
FIG. 5 of the drawings shows one convolution the scroll from which it will be seen that over a sector S which is about one tenth of a circle, the groove is straight, i.e., lies in a plane at right angles to the axis of the cylinder. When the zigzag strip is engaged in that part of the grooves, its progression along the table 26 is arrested. It is at this moment that the shaping of a prong is effected or started.
The table shown in FIG. 3 has a right-hand extension 36 the width of the top of which decreases away from the table. When a tooth of zigzag passes from the table 26 proper, as it is about to do as shown at 10A FIG. 6, its ends project beyond the side edges of the extension and lie in the grooves 32 and 34 of the scrolls.
In the portion S of the first convolution of those grooves there is a striker or hammer 38 which strikes those ends and bends them into the position shown at 10B in FIG. 7, the extension 36 of the feed table acting as an anvil. In a further convolution, there is a further hammer 39 at a greater radial distance from the axis of the cylinder which, on continued rotation of the latter, causes the partially bent zigzag to be further bent into the position shown at 10C in FIG. 8. The final tubular form 10D is achieved by a third hammer 40 (FIG. 8).
There is, of course, the possibility that the teeth of the zigzag strip after passing beyond a hammer will tend to spring back. This may make it desirable to duplicate the hammers in neighboring convolutions and for the prongs to be bent by them beyond the finally desired position into which they spring back under the effect of their resilience.
It is important that the zigzag strip be accurately aligned along the feed table when it reaches the feed cylinders. To that end a guide 50 is provided as shown in FIG. 3.
In addition a platform or cam surface 52 (FIG. 6) is provided in each groove of the scrolls in a position so that it engages the outermost part of each prong immediately before it is clamped. As the hammers 38 are positioned on the rollers 28, 30 so as to strike the tips 16 and the roots of the prongs simultaneously, the platforms on opposing rollers engage the wire simultaneously. The platforms 52, whilst they are adjusted to the exact width of the wire at the respective stage, cause the strip to be positioned central on the anvil 26.
Also to enable the hammers 38, 39, 40 to do their work the central parts of the prongs, are held by a clamp shown at 44 in FIG. 3 which is caused at appropriate times to grip the strip between itself and the anvil 36 after it has been positioned centrally by the platforms 52.
The clamp 44 is pivotally mounted at 60 and moved into its clamping position by an eccentric 62 geared to the rollers 28, 30. A cam follower lever 63 which acts on an adjustable stop 64 at the free end of the clamp is urged into engagement with the eccentric by means of a spring 65.
The clamp 44 has a projection 46 (FIG. 9) which serves at the same time to put into the prongs of the binder the kinks referred to above in connection with FIG. 2, the anvil 36 having depression 47 matching the projection 46. Thus, the flat zigzag is converted to the slotted tube shape of FIG. 2 and is indexed along the feed table by a mechanism which is exclusively rotary.
The shape and constitution of the hammers can be varied within wide limits. It is advantageous for them to exert a gradually increasing pressure on the parts they are designed to bend. They can, for example, be formed as rollers or they can be fixed cam surfaces any desired shape. Being subject to wear they should be made of a hardened material and mounted for easy removal and replacement. Some examples of hammers are shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C. At A therein, the hammer is a hardened steel insert in a slot 66 in which it is held by a screw 68 at any desired projection. At B, the hammer is a cam or eccentric the throw of which is adjustable by rotation. At C, the hammer is a spring-pressed roller which can yield to a limited extend as it passes the tooth of the zigzag to be bent.
In FIG. 3, the scrolls are shown as single-start helical grooves. They could be formed as mutiple start grooves.
An advantage of the machine is that it can be very conveniently made to follow a zigzag forming machine and particularly one in which the zigzags are formed by rotary member such, for example, as that forming the subject of Pat. No. 939,649. As the machine of the present invention has a rotary drive, its input shaft can be coupled to a shaft of the zigzag machine so that the two machines are perfectly synchronized and cannot get out of step.
Where the machine is fitted following a zigzag forming machine, some lengthwise adjustment of the rollers 28, 30 may be necessary to prevent a bunching-up or snaking of the wire. This is achieved by turning screw-threaded locking washers 56 on the drive shafts 58 of the rollers.
Although a purely rotary drive is advantageous, it is not essential.
In the WIRE-O system of binding perforated sheets which we have perfected and which formed the subject of Pat. No. 447,231 the binding elements are lengths of wire bent so as to form curved prongs on which the sheets are impaled. At the time at which the impaling process is carried out, each binding elements is in the form of a tube having a longitudinal slot in its wall the final step in the binding process is to close the slot by brining the closed ends of the prongs into their open ends.
The invention is concerned with the manufacture of the binding elements in the form in which they exist at the binding or sheet impaling stage, i.e., in the slotted tube form.
In the manufacture of such elements, it is usual for a length of wire first of all t be converted to the so-called "zigzag" form in which it assumes the shape of a flat comb of indefinite length the prongs of which are closed at their tips and open at their bases ro roots where they are connected to their neighbors by aligned lengths of wire forming the stock or spine of the comb so that the pitch of the prongs corresponds to the pitch of the perforations in the sheets to be bound. A long length of such flat zigzag material is then brought to the slotted tube form by suitable bending of the prongs.
The closed ends of the prongs will be referred to herein as the "tips" of the prongs and the lengths of wire separating successive prongs will be referred to as the "roots" of the prongs.
According to the invention, the conversion from the zigzag to the slotted tube condition is effected by feeding the wire over an anvil in a step-by-step fashion, and, while the strip is held stationary, clamping it so that the tips and roots of the prongs overhang the anvil striking the overhanging portion of each prong to cause it to conform to a shape determined by the anvil.
The bending can be effected in a single stage by using one striker, or in several stages, which is preferred, by using a number of strikers or "hammers." In the latter case, the first striker bends the prongs near their ends and the second at a point closer to the clamp and so on.
The intermittent feed can be effected in various ways as, for example, by means of a ratchet mechanism or other mechanism having a reciprocating or oscillating motion. It is, however, much preferable to use for the feeding of the strip a continuously rotated mechanism and, in particular, a rotary indexing wheel having a helical groove or scroll in which the tips and roots of the prongs are engaged and which has "straight" portions, i.e., portions lying in planes at right angles to the axis of the wheel which maintain the strip at rest at the instant at which a prong is to be acted on by a hammer or hammers, the later being carried by the wheel.
The final bending operation to close the binder after the sheets to be bound have been impaled on its prongs if facilitated if the prongs are provided midway along their length with a kink which acts as a hinge. Such a kink can very conveniently be provided as a result of the clamping of the teeth of the zigzag strip while these are being shaped or formed by the strikers or hammers.
The invention will now be explained in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given by way of example.
FIG. 1 shows a length of zigzag strips;
FIG. 2 shows a length of the slotted tube;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a machine in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the machine shown in FIG. 3;
FIG 5 shows one convolution of a scroll of the machine of FIG. 3;
FIGS. 6 to 9 are sections taken through FIG. 3 at VI to IX respectively and show the steps of converting the zigzag strip to a slotted tubular form; and
FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C show three examples of hammers or strikers which can be used.
The strip 10 shown in FIG. 1 is comblike, having prongs 14 closed at their tips 16 and open at their roots 18 where they are connected by lengths of wire 20. In the condition of use illustrated in FIG. 2, the prongs 10 have been curved so that perforated sheets can be impaled. That operation having been performed, the binding completed by bringing the tips 16 of the prongs into their roots or open ends 18, which is facilitated by a kink 24 in each prong.
Referring to FIGS. 3 onwards the machine has a feed table 26 on which the zigzag strip 10 is longitudinally fed. It is thus presented to a pair of stepped rollers 28, 30.
As will be seen, the stepped roller 28 is provided with a helical groove or scroll 32 the pitch of which is that of the prongs of the zigzag strip and the width of which is the dimension P in FIG. 1.
The stepped roller 30 has a similar groove or scroll 34 of the same pitch but of opposite hand and the width of which is that of a tip of the prong 12 of the zigzag strip.
It will be clear that rotation of the cylinders in opposite directions with the zigzag strip engaged in their grooves will result in longitudinal movement of the strip over the table 26.
FIG. 5 of the drawings shows one convolution the scroll from which it will be seen that over a sector S which is about one tenth of a circle, the groove is straight, i.e., lies in a plane at right angles to the axis of the cylinder. When the zigzag strip is engaged in that part of the grooves, its progression along the table 26 is arrested. It is at this moment that the shaping of a prong is effected or started.
The table shown in FIG. 3 has a right-hand extension 36 the width of the top of which decreases away from the table. When a tooth of zigzag passes from the table 26 proper, as it is about to do as shown at 10A FIG. 6, its ends project beyond the side edges of the extension and lie in the grooves 32 and 34 of the scrolls.
In the portion S of the first convolution of those grooves there is a striker or hammer 38 which strikes those ends and bends them into the position shown at 10B in FIG. 7, the extension 36 of the feed table acting as an anvil. In a further convolution, there is a further hammer 39 at a greater radial distance from the axis of the cylinder which, on continued rotation of the latter, causes the partially bent zigzag to be further bent into the position shown at 10C in FIG. 8. The final tubular form 10D is achieved by a third hammer 40 (FIG. 8).
There is, of course, the possibility that the teeth of the zigzag strip after passing beyond a hammer will tend to spring back. This may make it desirable to duplicate the hammers in neighboring convolutions and for the prongs to be bent by them beyond the finally desired position into which they spring back under the effect of their resilience.
It is important that the zigzag strip be accurately aligned along the feed table when it reaches the feed cylinders. To that end a guide 50 is provided as shown in FIG. 3.
In addition a platform or cam surface 52 (FIG. 6) is provided in each groove of the scrolls in a position so that it engages the outermost part of each prong immediately before it is clamped. As the hammers 38 are positioned on the rollers 28, 30 so as to strike the tips 16 and the roots of the prongs simultaneously, the platforms on opposing rollers engage the wire simultaneously. The platforms 52, whilst they are adjusted to the exact width of the wire at the respective stage, cause the strip to be positioned central on the anvil 26.
Also to enable the hammers 38, 39, 40 to do their work the central parts of the prongs, are held by a clamp shown at 44 in FIG. 3 which is caused at appropriate times to grip the strip between itself and the anvil 36 after it has been positioned centrally by the platforms 52.
The clamp 44 is pivotally mounted at 60 and moved into its clamping position by an eccentric 62 geared to the rollers 28, 30. A cam follower lever 63 which acts on an adjustable stop 64 at the free end of the clamp is urged into engagement with the eccentric by means of a spring 65.
The clamp 44 has a projection 46 (FIG. 9) which serves at the same time to put into the prongs of the binder the kinks referred to above in connection with FIG. 2, the anvil 36 having depression 47 matching the projection 46. Thus, the flat zigzag is converted to the slotted tube shape of FIG. 2 and is indexed along the feed table by a mechanism which is exclusively rotary.
The shape and constitution of the hammers can be varied within wide limits. It is advantageous for them to exert a gradually increasing pressure on the parts they are designed to bend. They can, for example, be formed as rollers or they can be fixed cam surfaces any desired shape. Being subject to wear they should be made of a hardened material and mounted for easy removal and replacement. Some examples of hammers are shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C. At A therein, the hammer is a hardened steel insert in a slot 66 in which it is held by a screw 68 at any desired projection. At B, the hammer is a cam or eccentric the throw of which is adjustable by rotation. At C, the hammer is a spring-pressed roller which can yield to a limited extend as it passes the tooth of the zigzag to be bent.
In FIG. 3, the scrolls are shown as single-start helical grooves. They could be formed as mutiple start grooves.
An advantage of the machine is that it can be very conveniently made to follow a zigzag forming machine and particularly one in which the zigzags are formed by rotary member such, for example, as that forming the subject of Pat. No. 939,649. As the machine of the present invention has a rotary drive, its input shaft can be coupled to a shaft of the zigzag machine so that the two machines are perfectly synchronized and cannot get out of step.
Where the machine is fitted following a zigzag forming machine, some lengthwise adjustment of the rollers 28, 30 may be necessary to prevent a bunching-up or snaking of the wire. This is achieved by turning screw-threaded locking washers 56 on the drive shafts 58 of the rollers.
Although a purely rotary drive is advantageous, it is not essential.