Stencil loading in stencil duplicators

A stencil duplicator having rotatable support means rotatable about an axis and having a surface for carrying a stencil having a relatively stiff heading strip with holes therein, a plurality of pins carried by said rotatable support means to engage said heading strip of the stencil to hold the stencil on the rotatable support means during printing, and means for loading said stencil onto said rotatable support means, the loading means comprising:

• (a) a pair of guide members;
• (b) means mounting said guide members for pivotal movement between a first position in which said heading strip of the stencil can be registered in a predetermined position spaced from said surface of the rotatable support means, and a second position in which the guide members will hold the heading strip of the stencil in a location through which location said pins travel during rotation of the rotatable support means, whereby when the stencil is in said location said pins carried by the rotatable support can sweep past said guide members and enter said holes in the heading strip of the stencil thereby entraining the stencil to be wound onto said surface of the rotatable support;
• (c) edge means on both said guide members defining a nip through which said heading strip of the stencil may be inserted for loading;
• and
• (d) stop means on said guide members positioned to hold said guide members with said nip having a width which is greater in the first position of said guide members than in said second position thereof to facilitate insertion of a stencil in said first position and to tension the stencil as it is dragged through the nip and is wound onto the rotatable support means in said second position.