Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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This invention relates to a cyclically operable
tape punch machine in which the punches are selected by
interposers in turn actuated by command signals. In
particular the invention relates to the form of a punch
employed to punch a feed opening in the tape and the
primar~ object of the invention is to so construct a
set of punches, one in particular, that a change in the
location of the feed opening may be easily accomplished.
According to the present invention there is
provided a cyclically operable tape punch machine for
punching a tape in accordance with command signals, the
machine having a plurality of punch elements arranged in
openings formed in a die block for advancing and restoring
movement, including a special punch element for punching
the tape with a feed opening, the punch elements having
shanks of substantially the same diameter. Interposers
are movable from a restored to an actuated position for
selecting the punch elements to be operable in each cycle
of the machine and having the selector ends thereof disposed
adjacent the punch elements in théir restored position.
The special punch element has a punching stem of reduced
diameter off-set to one side of its shank for punching a
feed hole which is off-center compared to the openin4s
punched by the other punch elements.
In the drawing:
Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine of the
present invention;
Fig. lA is an elevation of a sub~assembly of the
machine;
Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view of the machine
shown in Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale;
Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of
Fi~. 2;
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Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of
Fig. 2;
Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on the
line 5-5 of Fig. 4;
Fig. 6 is a diagram which relates machine
functions;
Fig. 6A is a fragment of a tape which may be
produced by the machine;
Fig. 7 is a view at the back of the machine and
showing an adjusting lever of modified form;
Fig. 8 is a timing diagram; and
Fig. 9, 9A and 9B show punch configurations.
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The tape to be punched is advanced from a supply
reel, not shown, through a guide tray 20, Figs. l and 2.
To feed the tape, a feed wheel 23 is afforded. The feed
wheel has teeth 23T engageable with feed openings in the
tape, The feed openings are produced in the tape concurrent
wit~ code punching the tape as will be explained.
The tape is punched inside a die block 26 diposed
between the guide tray and feed wheel. The tape is fed
through a slot 27 in the die block.
To punch the tape, a plurality (nine) or aligned
selectively operable punches 29 are mounted for vertical
movement in guide openings 31 in the die block. Each
punch has a sharp upper end 29~ for perforating the tape.
To locate the pùnches in normal position, the shank of
each punch is formed with a shoulder 29S engageable with a
stop 32 m~unted on the underside of the die block.
To drive the punches, the lowex or shank ends of the
punches are disposed in apertures 34 of a vertically movable
driver bar 35. The punches are selected for operation by
thin, flexible, blade-like selectors or interposer slides
36, there being an interposer for each punch.
A separate, intermediate punch 2gA, Fig. 4, is
active in each cycle to punch a feed opening in the center
of the tape.
The driver bar is slotted at 37, affording entry of
the free ends of the interposers. The slot intersects the
apertures 34 so-that each aperture has a portion above
and below the slot. The free end of each interposer is
normally locatea at the entry of the slot 37~ To guide the
interposers into the Flot the driver bar is formed with
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be~eled walls 37A and 37B which afford an interposer guide
throat divergent outwardly of the slot 37 in the direction
of the interposers. No other guide is necessary for assuring
entry of the free end of an interposer into the slot 37.
The interposers are controlled by solenoids S,
Fig. 3, in a manner to be described in more detail. When
a solenoid coil is energized by a command signal the free
end of the related interposer is extended into slot 37 to
engage and support the lower end of a related punch which
is thereby selected for operation. Consequently, when the
driver bar 35 is elevated the supported, selected punch is
actuated to punch the tape. If an interposer or slide
remains retracted from slot 37, the lower end of the related
punch is not supported; it is idled and experiences lost
motion within the lower section 34A of its aperture 34 when
the driver bar is raised. To restore an active punch as an
incident to restoring (lowering) the drivier bar, a punch
restoring blade 38 is supported on the driver bar and engages
a shoulder 39 on each punch.
The driver bar is operated by a crank assembly
including an oscillating link 40 and a drive arm 42 which
operates the link. The link 40 is in the form of a yoke,
having two fingers 44, Fig. 44, joined by a bail 45. The
bail 45 is provided with an aperture enabling the link yoke
40 to oscillate on a support shaft 46, Fig. 2 and 5, extended
therethrough. The driver ~ar 35 is also of yoke form in that
it has two dependent legs 35A. The free ends of the link
fingers 44, characterizing the link yoke, are provided with
fixed pins 48 and 49 which loosel~ fit apertures in the legs
35A of the driver bar 35. In this manner the oscillating
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ink and driver bar are loosely yoked to enable ~he driver
bar and die head quickly to be changed in a manner to ~e
explained.
The link 40 is oscillated to reciprocate the driver
bar. To do this, the upper end of arm 42 is Lormed with an
opening through which is extended a pin S0 having i.s
opposite ends supported by the link fingers 44, Fig. 5.
~rm 42 is oscillated by an eccentric 53 on a shaf~ 54
driven b~ a pulley55, Fig. 4, turned by a belt 56, Pig 1,
in turn driven by an A.C. motor, not shown.
The starting position of the driver bar may be
adjusted within a thousandth of an inch by a lever ~,
~ig. 2. This adjusts the restored position of the punch
elements. Lever 60 is supported for pivotal movement on
a fixed pin 61, Fig. 5. Lever 60 is clamped against the
fram2 of the machine by a washer and screw 63, Fig. 2,
and by a nut 64, Fig. 4, the latter being threaded on the
end of sha~t 46 which is extended through an elongated slot
66, Fig. 2, formed in the side frame 67 of th2 machine,
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allowing adjustment. When parts 63 and 64 are loosened,
the lever ma~ be repositioned on support pin 61 as a
pivo~, raising or lowering the pivot shaft 46. LinX 4Q
then pivots about pin 50. Since link 40 Su~pO~LS ~he
driver bar which in turn supports the punches, t e latter
are raised or lowered relative to the path or the tap2
through the die block.
When a solenoid is energized, a lever 70, ~ig. 2,
is effective to thrust the related interposer into ~he slot
of the driver bar. The lever ? is L-shap~d and has one
leg 71 pivotally supported on an edge 72 formed in a
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solenoid mounting bracker 74. Leg 71 is of magnetic
material and is presented to the core or armature 75 of
the solenoid.
A pin 77 is supported by the other leg 78 of the
lever 70. The pin fits an opening in the related selector
or interposer 36.
There is, of course, a solenoid S and related lever
assembly 70 for each interposer. When a solenoid is
energized, its lever 70 pivots clockwise, Fig. 2, thrusting
the related interposer 36 into the slot of the driver bar
35. The throat 37A-37B serves as a guide, assuring the
actuated interposer is presented to the punch to be
selected.
A le~f spring 81, Flg. 2~ restores an activated
interposer and its supporting slide. The free end of the
leaf sprlng flts an opening 82, Fig. 3, in the interposer
while the opposite end is secured to a support post 84.
The spring is under tension as long as the lnterposer is
in an actuated position and is effective to restore the
actuated parts when the related solenoid is de-energized.
The wheel for advancing the tape is turned by a
stepping motor 85, Flg. 2, which drives a sprocket 86.
The shat of the tape drive wheel is provided with a
sprocket 87. A timing belt 88 connects these two sprockets.
It has been mentioned the restored position of the
punches may be adjusted by lever 60. The idle or restored
position of the interposer slides 36 may also be accurately
ad~usted by means of a fixed stop 88 at the underside of
the die block 26 and an adjustable stop 89 which is supported
in a manner to be described.
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In this connection it will first be noted ~he
solenoi~ bxackets 74, Fig. 2, are secured as part of a
solenoid sub-assembly to a mounting plate 90 in turn
fastened to the unde~si~ of a support plate 91. The
interposers slide on the top of plate 91. The spring
support member 84 includes a plate extension 8aA ~verlying
the interposer slides so that the interposers are sandwiche~
between plates 91 and 8aA. The interposer guides are
essentialiy the springs 81 and pins 77. A detachable
cover 92 protects the interposers.
A vertical flange 94 is integral with pla,~ 90,
a~ording a mounting bracket fastened ~y il~x head so~ews
as 95 to the inside face of the side frame 67 as shown
in Fig. 2. Only one of the fastening screws 95 is shown.
The flange 94 is slotted at 96 to receive ~he fas,&ning
screws which, when loosened, permit the mounting bracket
90-94 to be shifted fore and aft, shifting the interposers
at ~he same time.
As mentioned, the means for adjusting the restored
position of the interposers includes a fixed stop 88 and
an adjustable stop 89. Tne latter is in the form o a bail
o~ strap, Figs. 2 and 3, supported on the upper side or
plate 91 for adjusting movemen~ toward or away *rol~ sto~ 88.
This adjustment is made at the time of factory ass&~ly.
Afterwards the sub-assembly (colenoids, interposers and
levers 70) supported by bracket plate 90-94 is positioned
on the side frame, slid forward until stop 8~ is ag~inst
stop 88 and then the securing screws as 95 are tig;n,ened
This sub-assembly, detached, is shown in Fig. lA.
Thus, the pre-set position of the stop means 89
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locates the selec~ox ends of ~he interposers in the throat
of the dxiver bar, spaced by that distance from the shank
ends of the punches which will be most responsive ~or
selecting the punches in accordance with the timing
characteristics of each machine.
This arrangement also enables the punches and die
block to be changed, as fox instance when the punch
diameter is to be changed or when there is to be an
alteration in the location or size of the punch 29~ which
provides the feed openings in the tape. Thus, by
loosening the screws as 95, the support bracket 90-94 may
be shifted to the left, Fig. ~, afordiT~ ~cces~ to ~h~
driver bar 35. The dri~er bar, it will be recalled, is
supported on two pins 48 and 49, Figs. 4 ana 5, fixed to
~he link fingers 44. This is a loose support, that is,
the pins 48 and 49 only loosely ~slidably) fit the openings
in the legs 25A of the driver bar. Also, the driver bar ~-
and die block are joined by the stop 3~.
Consequently, when plate 91 and the interposers are
shifted to clear the left side OL the driver bar, Fig. 2,
and after removing a screw 98 which secures the die block
in operative posi~ion on the side frame 67, the die block
ana driver b æ may be extracted as one unit merely by
sliding the legs 35A of the driver bar off the plns ~8 and
49, to the left as viewed in Fig. 4 By removing stops
32 and 39, the punches may be extracted. Repositioning is
in the opposte direction, the driver bar legs being slipped
on to the pins. In this connection it will be noted, Fig~ 4,
~ the right leg 35A of the driver bar is shorter ~han ~he
3~ left, and the left finger 44 of the lin~ 40 is fl~tten3d
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at 44' to facilitate extraction and slip fi~ insertion of
the die block-driver bar sub-assembly.
In operation, shaft 54 is constantly ~riven, which
means the driver bar is constantly reciprocated but no
punch is active unless its solenoid is energized. These and
other operating and functional characteristics of th~
machine are shown in Figs. 6 and 6A.
The leading end of a tap~ T in the course of
movement through the machine is shown in Fig. 6A. Machina
1~ functions are diagrammed in Fig. 6.
As already noted, punch 29A, Fig. 4, once the tape
i~ threaded on~ he reed wh~elt is cons~arLtly acti~e ~n
successi~e cycles, which means its solenoid is consLantly ; ~-active. Referring to Fig. 6/ the feed punch motian i5
6hown as a sine curve ~in and out of t~e papex) which
characterizes the successive, constant cycles of the driver
ba~. Total movement of the driver bar from bottom aead
center to top dead center is only about 0.120", the punch
~ravel being slightly less. The code punches, when actuated,
undergo the same motion, Fig. 6.
Further in connection with Fig. 6A, it is ass~mea
that one of the code punches is actuatea in t~70 successive
cycles ~A, B), that this same punch is idlea in the ~ollowing
cycle (space X on the tape~ and that the same code punch is
actuated in the next cycle, punched hole C, ~ig. 6A
Since the tape will be undergoing feeding movement
before the punch commana signals are originated, two feed
hole punches (1, 2) are sho~n in the tape in advance of the
first code hole, A.
~? The feea wheel 23 is s~epped by motor 85. The feed
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tape can only be advanced when the punches are withdr2-~n
from the paper. consequently, as shown in Fig. 6, motor
85 is stepped only during the 180 period which intervenes
between the time the punches are withdra-~Jn fro~ the tape
and their next en,ry into the tape. We have found that
with the increment of tape advance involved be~ween rows
of holes (a spacing increment of only one-tenth of an înch)
the inherent tendenc~ for the stepping motor to oscillate
at times produces an uncertain and inaccurate end point of
tape movement when a single stepping pulse is used, whereas
this oscillation can be da~pened and for all practiczl
purposes removed, resulting in accurate and predictahle tape
positioning, by applying two s~epping pulses to motor 8~ for
each increment ~O~l") o~ tape spacing movement~
Applying tt~o stepping pulses to ~he stepping motor
must, of course, be timea accurately to punch movemen~. -
In accordance with the present invention this is
acco~plishea by switch means timed and controlled ~y
sha~t 54, enabling the voltage applied to the stepping
motor to be varied. Referring to Fig. 7 a plurality of
steel slugs are mounted on a disc lOl in turn secured to
shaft 54 for ro~ation therewith. In Fig~ 7 the slugs are
shown as five in number, arbitrarily identified as 102-l
through 102-5.
The slugs rotate past a coil 104 and an associated
pexmanent magnet 105 which sets up a field with a cer,ain
flux density. As a slug moves past the coil 104, the magnetic
flux density changes because the reluctance o the magne-tic
circuit changes, and accordingly an enabling signal is
~i~ generated much in the manner of a switch operated by a
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timing cam on shaft 54. ~hile the sequence of the timing
slugs may be changed from what is given hereinafter, it may
be assumed for purposes of disclosure that switching slug
102-1 generates a control signal to switch from twelve volts
to twenty-four volts, slug 102-3 generates a control signal
to switch from twenty-four volts to twelve volts, and the
fifth slug 102-5 results in generation of a control signal
enabling the voltage to be dropped from twelve volts to
zero. The voltage referred to is the voltage source (not
shown)~employed to operate the stepping motor and to operate
the interposer solenoids.
The magnetic circuit forapp~ying accurately timed
voltage changes may also be used to control operation of the
interposer~solenoids. Inasmuch as the feed punch 29A i5
always sctlve and lnasmuch as any one of the code punches
may be active in ~uccessive cycles when the tape is being
punched, as shown in Pig. 6A, it become advantageous to hold
the interposers in actuated position when it is determined
that the function of a punch is to be repeated in successive
signals. This conserves the solenoid. The sensing means
for deter~ining a succession of punch function is not shown
and plays no part in the present invention. It may be simply
noted a sensing means is employed to dstermine in advance
if a punch active in a previous cycle is to be active in the
next succeeding cycle, and of course this is constantly true
of the punch for creating the tape advance holes.
It is assumed the voltage source (t~enty-four volts)
imposed on a solenoid coil is required to operate the related
lever 70 from a completely restored or idle position clockwise
to the position where it drives the related interposer into
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the driver bar slot but considerably less voltage ~twelve
volts) is required to maintain that same lever and its
interposer in punch selecting position~
Again, since the reference frame for all timing of
machine functions is identified with shaft 5~, the slugs on
disc 101 may be usea to step-moaulate the voltage ~or the
solenoids S between operating voltage, holding voltage and
drop-out (zero) voltage. This is sho~,~n in Fig. 6. The
~oltage for the code punching solenoids may vaxy between
zero, twelve or twenty-four. Twenty-four volts is requ~red
to move a~ interposer from restored to punch selector
position, whereas only twelve volts is required to hold the
interposer there~ Consequently, the same timing slugs used
to pulse the stepping motor may be employed to step-modulate
the ~oltage applied to the solenoid coils as will be evident
from ~ig. 6.
A modified form of lever for adjusting the punch
strake is shown in Fig. 7, lever 60A; its pivot is at 61A.
As shown in Fig. 6A the openings punched for
advancing the tape are of considerably smaller diame~er
than the so-calIed code holes, serving as a distinction
in appearance. In Figs. 9, 9A and 9B more detail is
presented. The feed hole F, ~ig. 9A, may be centered on
the code holes C and consequently the stem S of punch 29A
which presents the punch end is centered with respect to
the shank. The shank has a diameter D, the same as ~he
diameter of the t~pical code hole punch 29, Fig. 9.
However, a requirem2nt is scmetimes that the feed
opening punched in the tape be of the so-called advanced
feed hole orientation. This is shown in Fig. 9B where the
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feed hole F' is in tangent position compared to the code
ho].es C. Any change in this regard in the machine is
easily accomplished under the present invention simply by
changing the die block to accommodate a modified punch 29A',
Fig. 9B, in which the stem S' is off-set to one side of the
shank diameter D. The two punches, 2~A and 29A' are there-
fore supplied as a set, permitting interchange in the die
block.
In further explanation of the foregoing and as
can be visualized from Fig. 2, accurate positioning is
required for the punches both from the standpoint of
locating the shoulders as 29S and 3~, properly to the
related stop 32 and xestoring blade 38, and locating the
lower ends of the punches to be operatively engaged by
an int~rposer. Heretofore, when there has been need to
punch the so-called advanced feed hole, a punch of the
kind shown in Fig. 9A has been used but this requires a
die block specially constructed with a similarly
advanced (off-center) opening for the punch. In other
words, the punch for the advanced feed hole has to be
literally shifted forward in the die block. The amount
of movement is not much but it requires a special
interposer of increased length and ch~nges are also
required so that the shoulders 2~5 and 39 are not beyond
the reach of the stop and the restoring blade or bail 38.
In accordance with the present invention changes
such as the ~oregoing are not involved. Onl~ the die
blocks need be changed, one die block being furnished to
the customer and having the on-center punch 29, Fig. 9A,
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whilst a second die block is fuxnished with the advanced
feed hole punch 29A', Fig. 9B; the:interposers are not
ch.anged at all and there is no need to make any - -
alterations in the relationship be tween the stop 32,
bail.38, shoulder 29S and shoulder 39.
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