Apparatus for adapting a single sheet feed offset duplicator to print and collate continuous form paper

An apparatus for modifying an individual sheet feed offset duplicator (10) to print impressions on continuous form paper (50), said duplicator having its sheet feed (16) removed from its input (12) and having its sheet delivery (18) removed from its output (14), said duplicator having a printing mechanism (60, 70) for printing said impressions on said continuous form paper and for pulling said continuous form paper through said duplicator, said apparatus comprising:

• means (30) connected to said input of said duplicator and engaging said paper for delivering said paper into said duplicator,
• means (40) connected to said output of said duplicator and engaging said paper for maintaining a predetermined amount of tautness on said paper by providing supplementary pulling on said paper as said paper is pulled through said duplicator by said printing mechanism,
• means (270) in said delivering means and engaging said paper for generating power as said paper is pulled through said duplicator, said generating means further providing drag to said paper;
• said generating means having:
• (a) a pair of elongated tractors (210) engaging punched holes (380) formed on the opposing margins (370) of the continuous form paper, said tractors being substantially equal in length to the longitudinal length of the page in said paper so that the margins of said paper including the punched holes are substantially supported by said tractors;
• (b) a first rectangular plate (912) connected between said pair of elongated tractors and disposed slightly below said continuous form paper for supporting said paper;
• and
• (c) a pair of elongated plates (1601 and 1602), each connected to the top of one of said elongated tractors (210) and disposed above said continuous form paper for holding said paper in engagement with said tractors;
• and
• means (35) connected to said duplicator and to said generating and said maintaining means for extending said power from said generating means to said maintaining means to provide the power necessary for said supplementary pull so that said tautness on said paper is created from said drag located at said input and said supplementary pull located at said output as said paper is pulled through said duplicator.

An apparatus for modifying an individual sheet feed offset duplicator (10) to collate and print impressions on multiple streams of continuous form paper (50a, 50b, and 50c) to produce a single output stream of multi-page forms, said duplicator having its sheet feed (16) removed from its input (12) and having its sheet delivery (18) removed from its output (14), said duplicator having a printing mechanism (60, 70) for printing said impressions on said continuous form paper and for pulling said continuous form paper through said duplicator, said apparatus comprising:

• means (30) connected to said input of said duplicator and engaging each of said streams of paper in vertical alignment, for delivering said streams of paper in parallel into said duplicator,
• means (210, 220, 230, 240, 260) in said delivery means cooperative with the rotation of said printing mechanism for providing indexing to each of said streams of paper as said paper is delivered through said duplicator so that said printed impressions on said paper is registered at a predetermined location,
• means (282) in said delivery means for selecting said predetermined location while said duplicator is printing said impressions,
• means (1100) in said delivery means for selectively changing said indexing for different page lengths in said paper,
• means (40) connected to said output of said duplicator and engaging said paper for maintaining a predetermined amount of tautness on each of said streams of paper by providing supplementary pulling on said paper as said paper is pulled through said duplicator by said printing mechanism,
• means (270) in said delivering means and engaging said paper for generating power as said paper is pulled through said duplicator, said generating means further providing drag to said paper,
• means (35) connected to said duplicator and to said generating and said maintaining means for extending said power from said generating means to said maintaining means to provide the power necessary for said supplementary pull so that said tautness on said paper is created from said drag located at said input and said supplementary pull located at said output as said paper is pulled through said duplicator, and
• means for applying adhesive to at least one of the lateral edges of said streams of continuous form paper, thereby bonding together said lateral edges to create a single output stream of multi-page forms.

An apparatus for modifying an individual sheet feed offset duplicator (10) to collate and print impressions on multiple streams of continuous form paper (50) to produce a single output stream of multi-part forms, said duplicator having its sheet feed (16) removed from its input (12) and having its sheet delivery (18) removed from its output (14), said duplicator having a printing mechanism (60, 70) for printing said impressions on said continuous form paper and for pulling said continuous form paper through said duplicator, said apparatus comprising:

• means for supplying multiple streams of continuous form paper to said input of said duplicator;
• means (30) connected to said input of said duplicator and engaging said multiple streams of paper for delivering simultaneously said multiple streams of said paper in parallel into said duplicator,
• means (40) connected to said output of said duplicator and engaging said multiple streams of paper for maintaining a predetermined amount of tautness on said multiple streams of paper by providing supplementary pulling on said multiple streams of paper as said multiple streams of paper is pulled through said duplicator by said printing mechanism,
• means (270) in said delivering means and engaging said multiple streams of paper for generating power as said multiple streams of paper is pulled through said duplicator, said generating means further providing drag to said multiple streams of paper,
• means (35) connected to said duplicator and to said generating and said maintaining means for extending said power from said generating means to said maintaining means to provide the power necessary for said supplementary pull so that said tautness on said multiple streams of paper is created from said drag located at said input and said supplementary pull located at said output as said multiple streams of paper is pulled through said duplicator, and
• means for applying adhesive to at least one of the lateral edges of said streams of continuous form paper, thereby bonding together said lateral edges to produce said single output stream of multi-page forms.

An apparatus for modifying an individual sheet feed offset duplicator (10) to collate and print impressions on multiple streams of continuous form paper (50) to produce a single output stream of multipage forms, said duplicator having its sheet feed (16) removed from its input (12) and having its sheet delivery (18) removed from its output (14), said duplicator having a printing mechanism for printing said impressions on said continuous form paper and for pulling said continuous form paper through said duplicator, said apparatus comprising:

• a pair of opposing mounting plates (500, 502) mounted to said input of said duplicator,
• a pair of elongated tractors (210) mounted between said plates for engaging punched holes (360) on the opposing margins (370) of each of the streams of said paper, said tractors having a substantial length equal to the longitudinal length of a page in said paper,
• means (912, 1000) connected to said tractors for holding said paper in engagement with said pair of tractors,
• means (554, 556) connected to said tractors for generating power as said paper is pulled through said duplicator, said generating means further providing drag to said paper,
• means (552) connected between said plates for angularly moving in a direction perpendicular to the direction containing said plates,
• a cam (526) having an actuating surface (820), said cam driven to rotate one revolution with each revolution of said printing mechanism,
• a lever (527, 552, 830) operatively engaging said cam to provide said indexing when said lever operatively engages said actuating surface,
• a V-shaped key (240) located on said lever,
• at least one timing gear (260) engaging said generating means, said at least one timing gear having a V-shaped index opening (250) on the outer surface thereof, said opening being located on said at least one gear at a location wherein when said paper has stopped moving between printing of said impressions, said key with each revolution of said cam fully engages said opening and forces said paper to a predetermination registration (320) position so that the engagement of said V-shaped key with said V-shaped opening at an index point (252) corrects overshoot or undershoot of said paper after the printing of each impression,
• means (280) connected to said moving means and to said generating means for selectively pivoting said moving means about said generating means in a predetermined angle to vary the registration of said impression a predetermined distance on said paper while said impressions are being printed,
• means (40) connected to said output of said duplicator and engaging said paper for maintaining a predetermined amount of tautness on said paper by providing supplementary pulling on said paper as said paper is pulled through said duplicator by said printing mechanism,
• means (35) connected to said duplicator and to said generating and said maintaining means for extending said power from said generating means to said maintaining means to provide the power necessary for said supplementary pull so that said tautness on said paper is created from said drag located at said input and said supplementary pull located at said output as said paper is pulled through said duplicator,
• means for applying adhesive to at least one of the lateral edges of said streams of continuous form paper, thereby bonding together said lateral edges to form a single output stream of multi-page forms.