S P E C I F I C A T I O N

5 The present invention relates generally to proc¬ essing continuous form assemblies in a printer and more particularly to an improved method and means for feed¬ ing a continuous form assembly into an automatic printer mechanism. ₁₀ A continuous form assembly typically comprises several superimposed interconnected sheets or forms on which information is printed, preferably by a high speed computer controlled mechanism, to provide movable copies of each printed form. The forms are scored at the upper

•^5 and lower edges to facilitate separating into individual sets. The assembly of forms also has along each lateral edge a narrow detachable margin section provided at the midpoint thereof with equally spaced perforations adapted to be engaged by the drive mechanism of the printer's o tractor mechanism for advancing the set of forms through the printer. The marginal sections are adapted to be removed from the set of forms after passing through the printer mechanism.

In a conventional computer controlled printer 5 mechanism the printer tractor means is comprised of a drive mechanism having feed pins at each end which engage the perforations in the margin sections of the forms. At least one of the drive mechanisms for advancing the

for s extends substantially above the printing head, and as a result the upper portion of the first set of forms (i.e. uppermost form) of the continuous form assem¬ bly must be advanced some distance past the printing head before the feed pins can engage with the perfor¬ ations in the marginal section of the form and the upper¬ most form of the assembly is not in proper position to receive all of the required printing thereon and must be discarded. Where it is necessary to frequently use several different continuous form assemblies during a work period, the waste and inconvenience of accounting for discarded forms is an undesirable business expense.

The continuous business form feeder disclosed in the Brown U.S. Patent No. 3,788,536 is designed to avoid wasting the first form of a continuous form assem¬ bly and is comprised of an inverted Y-shaped assembly of two superimposed sheets of flexible material having a width equal the width of the forms with the upper half of each sheet bonded together and the lower half sepa- rated to form legs which are designed to frictionally engage the uppermost form. The lower half of the top sheet of the feeder device has a cutout section equal to the area of the form to receive printing.

When the feeder device of Patent No. 3,788,536 is mounted on the uppermost form of a continuous form assembly and inserted into the tractor mechanism of a mechanical printer, the legs of the feeder device fail to frictionally hold the uppermost form in assembled position when the irregular step-wise motion of the feed mechanism takes place due to the drag of the continuous form assembly. The failure of the Brown feeder device to securely hold the uppermost form during the feeding operation seriously interferes with the utility of the feeder device. Also, the added thickness which the leg

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of the feeder device imparts to the uppermost form requires additional adjustment of the print hammers after the first form passes through the printer, because the proper printing force applied by the printer hammers is determined by the thickness of the material between the platen and the print hammers.

It is, therefore, an object of the present inven¬ tion to provide an improved continuous business form assembly feeder device and method of feeding a continu- ous form assembly into printer mechanism.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claims when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a continuous form printer and the uppermost form of a con¬ tinuous business form assembly positioned in a printer mechanism by means of the feeder device of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the uppermost continuous form assembly having the feeder device of the present invention mounted thereon;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of one embodiment of the feeder device of the present invention; Fig. 4a is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 4a-4a of Fig. 4;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of a fur¬ ther embodiment of the feeder device of the present inven- tion;

Fig. 5a is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 5a-5a of Fig. 5;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the feeder device of Figs. 4 and 4a in the form of a continuous strip wound

into roll from which a suitable length of the feeder device can be removed as required; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an assembly of feeder devices of Figs. 5 and 5a in the form of a pad from which a feeder device can be removed as required.

The foregoing objects and other advantages inher¬ ent in the present invention are achieved by providing an article in the form of a flexible strip foldable lon¬ gitudinally down the middle and each half of the strip provided with oppositely disposed perforations spaced vertically so as to be engagable by the feed pins of a printer tractor mechanism. One surface of the strip is provided with an adhesive material which enables the strip to be secured to the margin section when folded to enclose both the front and rear surfaces of a portion of the margin section of the uppermost form of a continu¬ ous form assembly.

In the embodiment of the present invention which is shown in Figs. 1 through 4a, the feeder device or margin extender is formed of an elongated flexible strip 10 of paper, plastic or metal which is creased longitu¬ dinally as at 11 along the middle thereof to facilitate folding the flexible strip longitudinally. The strip has a width such that when folded longitudinally in half it has substantially the same width as each of the mar¬ gin sections 12, 12' of the uppermost form 13. Each half of the flexible strip 10 at the midpoint thereof is provided with oppositely disposed feed pin holes 14, 14' which are spaced longitudinally a distance equal to the spacing of the feed pin holes 15 in the margin sections 12, 12' of the form and the feed pins of the printer tractor mechanism. The lower surface of the foldable strip 10 is coated with an adhesive film 16, preferably a long tack pressure sensitive adhesive, so

that the strip can be secured to the margin section of the uppermost form when brought into contact therewith.

In the modified form of the margin extender or feeder device shown in Fig. 5 and 5a the flexible strip 20 is formed substantially as in Figs. 4 and 4a except that instead of having the strip creased longitudinally the strip 20 is cut at intermittant points spaced longi¬ tudinally along the center thereof as at 21 to provide a line of weakness extending longitudinally down the middle to facilitate folding the flexible strip 20.

The strip 20 is provided with oppositely disposed per¬ forations 23, 23' at midpoint of each half and the per¬ forations are spaced longitudinally so as to coincide with the spacing of the feed pin holes 15 of the margin sections 12, 12'. An adhesive film 25 is provided on the lower surface of the flexible strip 20, as in the embodiment of the Figs. 4 and 4a.

The flexible strips of the present invention while in a substantially flat or unfolded configuration can be wound into a roll or onto a spool from which sec¬ tions of the flexible strip can be removed having any required length (See Fig. 6). If desired, transverse perforations 30 can be made at spaced intervals to facili¬ tate removal of a section of the continuous strip from the roll. Also, several margin extenders 20 having the proper length for a given form can be provided in the form of a pad 40 from which an individual feeder device 20 can be removed as required (See Fig. 7) . In the lat¬ ter embodiment the adhesive material on one surface of the flexible strip should preferably be a long tack pres¬ sure sensitive adhesive.

In use a section of the longitudinally foldable flexible strip of the present invention having a length, preferably about one-half to one times the length of the uppermost form, sufficient to permit the lower end portion thereof to be secured to the upper end portion

of a margin section of the uppermost form and also extend substantially above the upper edge of the form is posi¬ tioned preferably on each of the margin sections of the uppermost form so that the perforations or feed pin holes formed in one half of the generally flat unfolded strip coincide with the feed pin holes in the margin section of the uppermost form. When the feed pin holes of the strip and margin section are thus properly aligned, the flexible strip is folded inwardly so as to enclose the margin section of the uppermost form and securely hold all of the sheets of the uppermost form against movement relative to the flexible strips. The uppermost form having the upper ends of the flexible strips secured to each margin section and extending longitudinally sub- stantially above the uppermost edge thereof is inser¬ ted into the printer by feeding the flexible strips into the tractor mechanism 45 until the feed pins 46 engage the feed pin holes 15 of the flexible strips and the uppermost form is advanced so that the printer head 48 can apply the required printing thereon.

While the flexible strips of the specific embodi¬ ments of the present invention have perforations in the form of circular feed pin holes, any feed means can be used for the flexible strips which are compatible with the feed mechanism of the printer and the continuous form assembly.