Spring Patents (Class 100/171)
  • Patent number: 5080010
    Abstract: A pressure roller device includes upper and lower roller holders and small diameter upper and lower pressure rollers which are supported by the upper and lower roller holders, respectively. Upper and lower backup rollers, which are, respectively, provided at upper and lower sides of the upper and lower pressure rollers, remote from a point of contact of the upper and lower pressure rollers are rotatably supported by the upper and lower roller holders, respectively. The upper roller holder is rotatably supported, at one end of the upper and lower roller holders, by the lower roller holder. A pressing mechanism presses the upper roller holder against the lower roller holder, which is provided at the other end of the upper and lower roller holders, with the upper roller holder being rotated so as to be pressed against the lower roller holder, such that the upper and lower pressure rollers are brought into pressing contact with each other by the upper and lower backup rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 1991
    Date of Patent: January 14, 1992
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshiaki Ibuchi, Mitsuru Ogura
  • Patent number: 5066211
    Abstract: A control assembly to control the rate at which a food material is conducted to die cavities of a rotary press. The control assembly includes a roller subassembly, a first roller rotatably supported by the roller support assembly, and a second roller rotatably supported by the roller support assembly and located adjacent the first roller. The first and second rollers form a feed gap therebetween to receive the food material, and the second roller is also supported for movement toward and away from the first roller. The control assembly further includes an adjusting subassembly connected to the roller support subassembly to move the second roller toward and away from the first roller to vary the size of the feed gap, and a roller drive subassembly connected to the first and second rollers to rotate those rollers to pull the food material through the feed gap and to direct the food material to the die plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 19, 1991
    Assignee: Nabisco Brands, Inc.
    Inventors: William G. Wunder, Sr., Eric M. Bliss
  • Patent number: 5022318
    Abstract: An apparatus for adjusting the roll gap between cooperating rolls of a rolling stand for coating e.g. plastic foils or metal strips with a material which does not or does effect the roll gap includes a split bearing shell for each roll journal, with one shell half being part of a support unit and arranged inwardly relative to the roll gap and the other shell half being part of an adjusting unit and arranged outwardly relative to the roll gap. The individual elements of the adjusting units are arranged relative to the individual elements of the support unit in such a manner that the forces exerted free from play by the adjusting unit and of the support unit at both sides of the roll journals act in a common plane extending perpendicular to the axes of the rolls.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 1989
    Date of Patent: June 11, 1991
    Inventor: Gunther Alich
  • Patent number: 4949535
    Abstract: A biasing mechanism for a roll-type conditioning apparatus having a pair of generally vertically spaced, counterrotating conditioning rolls in which the upper roll is biased toward engagement with the lower roll is disclosed wherein a torsion bar interconnects the opposing ends of the upper roll such that any movement of either end of the upper roll away from the lower roll effects a twisting of the torsion bar to increase the biasing force exerted thereby on both ends of the upper conditioning roll. The torsion bar is connected to a mounting mechanism which includes a hub assembly pivotally connected to the frame of the conditioning apparatus on a pivot arm movably mounting one end of the upper conditioning roll. The pivotal connection of the hub assembly effects a rotational movement thereof whenever the pivot arm is moved to effect a corresponding twisting of the torsion bar connected thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 1989
    Date of Patent: August 21, 1990
    Assignee: Ford New Holland, Inc.
    Inventor: Joseph C. Hurlburt
  • Patent number: 4923558
    Abstract: A device for welding plastic foil strips together with a heating device and a pair of pressure rolls between which the strips are fed, includes a pressure device supported by a spring mechanism for one of two pressure rolls. The pressure device includes a first regulating mechanism for the setting of the width of the gap between the two pressure rolls and a second regulating mechanism for the setting of the welding pressure which is arranged on the first regulating mechanism and which can be moved by it. The regulating units of the two regulating mechanisms are two interacting eccentric elements. This leads to a compact design and only little force is necessary for the setting of the welding pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 1988
    Date of Patent: May 8, 1990
    Assignee: Pfaff Industriemaschinen, GmbH
    Inventors: Bernd Ellenberger, Friedrich Jennet, Karlheinz Schafer, Rainer Spickermann, Gerhard Lass
  • Patent number: 4920877
    Abstract: An improved wringer device is provided for squeezing water from a cloth or chamois when fed between a pair of adjacent rollers. Each roller is made from thermoformed plastic, or molded elastomeric material with an outer surface defining a plurality of axially alligned curvilinear hill and valley surfaces. The hill surface of one roller meshes with a valley surface of the adjacent roller to assist in feeding the cloth through the rollers and to maximize efficiency by minimizing required cranking force. The device includes a first support member for mounting to a wall, a second roller support member pivotably connected to the first member, and a third roller support member fixedly secured to the second member, a pair of rollers with substantially parallel axes and each supported between the second and third support members, and a crank interconnected with one of the rollers to drive that roller, which then drives the other roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 1989
    Date of Patent: May 1, 1990
    Inventors: Stephen R. Foster, Thomas R. Oschmann
  • Patent number: 4901103
    Abstract: A pressure developing device having a pair of pressure developing rollers in an image recording apparatus. A pressure-sensitive recording sheet can be fed to pass between the pressure developing rollers, and has a pressure-sensitive image bearing layer on one surface thereof. A developer sheet can selectively be fed to pass between the pressure developing rollers in superposed relation to the pressure-sensitive image bearing layer. The pressure developing rollers are spaced from each other by a gap which is greater than the thickness of the pressure-sensitive sheet and smaller than the combined thickness of the pressure-sensitive sheet and the developer sheet. The pressure developing device also includes a friction roller held against a surface of the pressure-sensitive recording sheet opposite to the image bearing layer and rotatable for frictionally feeding the pressure-sensitive recording sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 1988
    Date of Patent: February 13, 1990
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kiyoharu Hayakawa, Yumio Matsumoto, Masashi Ueda, Akira Sago, Osamu Tagaki
  • Patent number: 4889049
    Abstract: An improved wringer device is provided for squeezing water from a cloth or chamois when fed between a pair of adjacent rollers. Each roller is made from thermoformed plastic, or molded elastomeric material with an outer surface defining a plurality of axially aligned curvilinear hill and valley surfaces. The hill surface of one roller meshes with a valley surface of the adjacent roller to assist in feeding the cloth through the rollers and to maximize efficiency by minimizing required cranking force. The device includes a first support member for mounting to a wall, a second roller support member selectably connected to the first member, and a third roller support member fixedly secured to the second member, a pair of rollers with substantially parallel axes and each supported between the second and third support members, and a crank interconnected with one of the rollers to drive that roller, which then drives the other roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 1988
    Date of Patent: December 26, 1989
    Inventors: Stephen R. Foster, Thomas R. Oschmann
  • Patent number: 4843673
    Abstract: A device for wiping liquids from the surface of moving metal strip under tension, such as strip produced by cold rolling mills. The device consists of a plurality of rollers, between which the strip passes, where each roller is supported by a plurality of pairs of casters. The caster pairs are spring mounted in a pair of frames, the frames being urged together by fluid powered cylinders, so that the rollers are held against the strip surfaces under pressure, thus wiping the strip surface by preventing passage of liquid on the strip surface past the rollers. The caster are arranged so that the number of rollers can be changed by shifting and removing or adding rollers. In one embodiment, the device can be converted between three and four roller arrangements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 1988
    Date of Patent: July 4, 1989
    Assignee: T. Sendzimir, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael G. Sendzimir, John W. Turley
  • Patent number: 4802439
    Abstract: A pressure device for applying pressure between an upper fixing roller and a lower fixing roller, the pressure applying device being disposed at each end of the lower fixing roller and including a bearing member for supporting a rotary shaft mounted in the lower fixing roller and a biasing spring for biasing the bearing member upwards. The upper and lower fixing rollers are held in pressure contact with each other through depression of the upper fixing roller towards the lower fixing roller, under the influence of the pressure device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 1987
    Date of Patent: February 7, 1989
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuji Sugimoto, Masaru Tsuji, Shoichiro Yoshiura
  • Patent number: 4798134
    Abstract: A three-roll press for a web including a pair of pressing rolls forming a nip and a pressure roll bearing on one of the pressing rolls in which the deflection curve of one of the pressing rolls is matched to that of the other pressing roll by the application of a biasing force to the one pressing roll urging its end toward the pressure roll by an amount which is proportional to the internal moment in the one pressing roll at locations corresponding to the edges of a web in the nip therebetween. A compensating spring is employed to urge the one pressing roll toward the pressure roll. The pressing roll may be a crowned roll or a skewed roll.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 1987
    Date of Patent: January 17, 1989
    Assignee: The Mead Corporation
    Inventors: Jack Beery, Erik K. Nelson, John J. Shelton
  • Patent number: 4760789
    Abstract: An adjustable mounting mechanism for a distribution roller in a printing, duplicating or like machine which includes a moisture or ink system having a plurality of distribution rollers for distributing moisture or ink to a printing couple of the machine. A pair of fixed rollers and a removable roller are located on the machine in a triangular configuration with parallel axes of rotation. The adjustable mounting mechanism includes a triangulated array of pivot arms movable generally perpendicular to the axes of the rollers. Two of the pivot arms define a V-shaped yoke to cradle the removable roller, and the other pivot arm defines a clamp for holding the removable roller in the cradle. Each of the other two pivot arms and, therefore, the removable roller is adjustable generally radially toward and away from the respective fixed roller to adjust the pressure or gap between the removable roller and the respective fixed roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 1986
    Date of Patent: August 2, 1988
    Assignee: AM International, Inc.
    Inventor: Stanley Witczak
  • Patent number: 4718616
    Abstract: A wind-up apparatus for forming laps comprises a first winding roller, a second winding roller, a lap bobbin tube and a plurality of, for instance four, calender rolls. The calender rolls serve for consolidating a fiber layer into a windable fiber web. Each calender roll of the predetermined number of calender rolls has a predetermined rest position and an operating position. A guide structure is provided for the calender rolls to enable the calender rolls to be movable within a given mobility range defined between the rest position and the operating position. The guide structure comprises force-producing elements for moving the calender rolls into the predetermined rest position thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 1986
    Date of Patent: January 12, 1988
    Assignee: Rieter Machine Works Limited
    Inventors: Rene Schmid, Hermann Krehl
  • Patent number: 4637565
    Abstract: A wind-up apparatus for forming laps comprises a first winding roller, a second winding roller, a lap bobbin tube and a plurality of, for instance four, calender rolls. Each calender roll is movably mounted at each of its opposite ends by means of a spring pair receiving the calender roll. Each spring pair is fixedly connected at one end to a bearing member of the related calender roll and at its other end by means of a carrier to side walls of the wind-up apparatus. A piston of a pneumatic cylinder moves the calender rolls from a rest position, in which there is a spacing D between the calender rolls and a spacing E between the last calender roll and the first winding roller, into a working position in which the calender rolls are pressed against one another in the absence of an intervening fiber layer. The position of the calender rolls in their rest position is maintained by the spring pairs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 20, 1987
    Assignee: Rieter Machine Works Limited
    Inventors: Rene Schmid, Hermann Krehl
  • Patent number: 4619451
    Abstract: Four pairs of paper drive rollers are provided which may be individually adjusted so that proper balancing of the bite pressures result. The same springs employed for this purpose are also utilized to maintain the mechanism locked and to provide rapid and easy opening of the mechanism to widely separate the rollers for the purpose of cleaning and preventing the rollers from being flattened due to continued application of bite pressure when the machine is not being used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 1984
    Date of Patent: October 28, 1986
    Assignee: Itek Corporation
    Inventor: Dennis W. Dodge
  • Patent number: 4551878
    Abstract: An improved device for wiping liquids from the surface by moving metal strip under tension, such as strip produced by cold rolling mills, is disclosed. The device consists of three rollers, between which the strip passes, where each roller is supported by a plurality of pairs of casters, the caster pairs being spring mounted in a pair of frames, the frames being urged together by fluid powered cylinders, so that the rollers are held against the strip surfaces under pressure, thus wiping the strip surface by preventing passage of liquid on the strip surface past the rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 1984
    Date of Patent: November 12, 1985
    Inventors: John W. Turley, Michael G. Sendzimir
  • Patent number: 4472927
    Abstract: Disclosed is a hay conditioner of basically typical construction in which the improvement lies in adjustable stop means for use in setting and varying the clearance between the upper and lower conditioning rolls. There is provided at each side of the machine a means including a lever arm disposed below a support for the upper roll and pivoted at one end on the adjacent side of the machine frame, the other end being connected to a screw-threaded adjustment link effective to elevate the lever for engagement with the upper roll support and thus to selectively limit downward movement of the upper roll under action of the usual biasing means. Thus, the upper roll is free to move upwardly in response to crops passing between the rolls, but its downward movement is limited to the stopped position selected by the adjustment link. The link extends upwardly to a free end that is easily accessible to receive a force-applying tool.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 1982
    Date of Patent: September 25, 1984
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventors: James L. Vogt, Bobby G. Sawyer, Steven L. Hoskins
  • Patent number: 4452135
    Abstract: A fire hose retracting and flattening apparatus has a first endless belt having a width at least as great as that of the hose to be retracted which is mounted in a main frame so as to have a generally planar run thereof on which the hose can be lain. The belt is mounted so as to be operatively connected to a motor to effect the driving thereof in a retracting direction. First and second pairs of rollers are provided which co-act with the planar run of the belt to retract and flatten the hose disposed thereon. The first and second roller pairs are mounted above the planar run, with the first roller pair downstream of the second roller pair, for pivotal movement between a first position wherein the first roller pair is adjacent to the run and the second roller pair is spaced apart therefrom and a second position wherein the first roller pair is spaced apart from the run and the second roller means is adjacent thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1981
    Date of Patent: June 5, 1984
    Inventor: Robert H. Hayes
  • Patent number: 4441416
    Abstract: A pressure fixing device for a recording medium comprises a pair of frames, a first roll rotatably supported by the frames, two pair of guide members attached individually to the frames to be movable at right angles to the axis of the first roll, second and third rolls disposed along the first roll so that both ends of the rolls are supported individually by the guide members for rotation, the recording medium being passed between the first and second rolls, and a mechanism for urging the second roll toward the first roll. The mechanism including a pair of compression coil springs extending along the axes of the rolls to apply an urging force in its extending direction, a pair of pressure levers rockable around an axis normal to the axes of the rolls and the moving direction of the guide members, the pressure levers receiving the urging force of the coil springs to urge the second roll toward the first roll.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 1982
    Date of Patent: April 10, 1984
    Assignee: Tokyo Shibaura Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Teruo Tsutsumi
  • Patent number: 4432279
    Abstract: A flattener for beverage cans is disclosed. The flattener comprises a rotating drum and a series of roller assemblies mounted in a converging arc with respect to the drum to provide a progressively decreasing nip between the roller assemblies and the drum between which the cans may be flattened.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 1982
    Date of Patent: February 21, 1984
    Assignee: Reynolds Metals Company
    Inventor: Jim M. Swendeman
  • Patent number: 4417803
    Abstract: A device for the pressure fixing of a toner image contains a pair of pressure fixing rolls arranged in parallel to each other. An image record carrier is fed in between said pressure fixing rolls which, for the pressure fixing of the toner image, are pressed against each other through a pressure bar by means of a plurality of pressure generators. Said pressure generators are positioned displaceably in the axial direction of said pressure fixing rolls to adjust a load distribution depending upon the width of said record carrier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 1982
    Date of Patent: November 29, 1983
    Assignee: Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masato Kobayashi, Yasushi Hoshino, Kazuyoshi Tateishi, Minoru Isobe, Hiroshi Konishi, Yoshitomo Koga, Shigemi Hagiwara
  • Patent number: 4354431
    Abstract: To suppress bending oscillations, particularly when tensioning or blanket attachment grooves of operating cylinders of a rotary printing machine, specifically of an offset printing machine, are engaged with each other, bearings (4) are supported by tensioning bars (3), one end of which is pressed by a stop (17) or a cam (5) towards the bearing, the other being tensioned by a spring (7) or hydraulic (40-44) arrangement thereagainst. The cam can be released from pressing position upon receiving a "stop print" command. Alternatively, rather than pressing the ends of the pressure bar (3) against fixed portions, for example the side walls (18, 28) of the machine, two adjacent cylinders can be pressed against each other by connecting the respective ends of the pressure bars together, one of the connections preferably including a releasable, for example hydraulic pressure loaded joint (23) and the other having the spring or fluid pressure tensioning force applied thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 1980
    Date of Patent: October 19, 1982
    Assignee: M.A.N.-Roland Druckmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Hermann Fischer
  • Patent number: 4310361
    Abstract: A sugar cane mill facility for the extraction with imbibition of sugar from sugar cane.This mill is characterized by the fact that it includes a fourth roller placed in front of the upper roller, against which it presses and, above the inlet roller and mounted on a mobile support, means acting upon the said support in order to flexibly push the fourth roller towards the upper roller, adjustable stops hindering these two rollers from coming together, and a trash plate placed between the fourth roller and the inlet roller integral with the said mobile support. The juices extracted by pressure between the upper roller and the fourth roller can be recycled to the bagasse layer feeding the mill, either with the juices which have passed through this layer, or with the juices extracted by pressure between the upper roller and the inlet and outlet rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 1980
    Date of Patent: January 12, 1982
    Assignee: Fives-Cail Babcock
    Inventor: Jean-Pierre Georget
  • Patent number: 4233997
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to a rib-rolling mechanism for processing tobacco ribs and includes a pair of relatively rotatable rollers having peripheral surfaces defining therebetween a throat through which it is adapted to pass tobacco, the rollers having shafts, the shafts of the first of the rollers being journaled for rotation in fixed bearings and the shafts of the second of the rollers being journaled for rotation in movable bearings, a device for resiliently urging the second roller toward the first roller, the latter device including a rod connected to each of the movable bearings, a sleeve in external telescopic relationship to each of the rods, springs coupled between each of the sleeves and the second roller for urging the latter toward the first roller, and elements for axially shifting the rods to vary the force exerted by the springs in a direction to urge the second roller toward the first roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 1977
    Date of Patent: November 18, 1980
    Assignee: Firm Wilh. Quester
    Inventors: Karl W. Quester, Josef Gontgen, Adolf Muller
  • Patent number: 4198994
    Abstract: The device enables the machine to undergo without damage the passage of deformed metal sheets or metal sheets whose thickness exceeds the gap between the rollers of the machine. For this purpose, the upper rollers carried by an upper frame of the machine are mounted in bearings which are supported elastically by means of spacer blocks. Sealing elements operating under conditions particular to each sealing element are provided. The main application of this device is in machines for effecting an accelerated cooling or hardening of metal sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 1978
    Date of Patent: April 22, 1980
    Assignee: Union Siderurgique du Nord et de l'Est de la France (USINOR)
    Inventor: Alfred M. J. Germain
  • Patent number: 4087169
    Abstract: A constant force spring apparatus is used to bias a transfer roller into contact with a photoreceptor during movement of the latter, so that the force between the transfer roller and the photoreceptor remains constant regardless of any variations in the dimensions of the transfer roller or photoreceptor, or of any disturbances within the machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 1976
    Date of Patent: May 2, 1978
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventor: Joseph Fantuzzo
  • Patent number: 4084496
    Abstract: Containers made of various materials, such as aluminum and steel beverage cans, and glass beverage bottles, are crushed and separated to permit recycling of the metallic materials by a method and apparatus comprising crushing the containers in a container crushing means having two cone shaped members being rotationally frictionally engageable with each other, one of the cone shaped members being displaceable from the other against the resistance of a spring means, wherein the containers are crushed as they pass between the cone shaped members, conveying the crushed containers away from the crushing means on a container conveyor and separator means comprising an endless belt member having a first end portion for receiving crushed containers from the crushing means and a second end portion, separating the magnetic from the non-magnetic crushed containers by subjecting the containers to a magnetic field at the second end portion of the belt member whereby the non-magnetic containers are discharged from the belt
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 1977
    Date of Patent: April 18, 1978
    Assignee: G.B.C., Inc.
    Inventors: John E. Ehernberger, Bud Mazza
  • Patent number: 4040344
    Abstract: The invention comprises a feed roller mechanism for use with forage harvesters adapted for picking up cut forage material from the ground and thereafter moving said forage material up a conveyor to a feed roller mechanism which grips and compresses the forage materials sufficiently for it to be passed to a cutter whereafter the forage material may be cut into small pieces and moved to a storage container for transportation and/or processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 1975
    Date of Patent: August 9, 1977
    Assignee: Dehye Harvesters Limited
    Inventors: George Edgar Moore, Alan Francis Morris
  • Patent number: 4019949
    Abstract: A heat sealing apparatus for sealing together two layers of heat softenable plastics material, for example two sides of the top of a bag or sack, comprising a pair of rollers arranged to nip said layers together to form a seal after they have been softened, means loading one roller towards the other roller and permitting said one roller to be urged away from said other roller against the load exerted by said loading means on passage of layers of plastics material between the rollers, and stop means arranged such that said loading means exerts a reduced loading on the rollers in the absence of layers of plastics material to be sealed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 1975
    Date of Patent: April 26, 1977
    Assignee: The Thames Sack and Bag Company Limited
    Inventor: Samuel Greisman