US3693510A

US3693510A - Manufacture of aperture cards

Info

Publication number: US3693510A
Application number: US86183A
Authority: US
Inventors: John F Langan
Original assignee: Langan Aperture Cards Inc
Current assignee: Langan Aperture Cards Inc
Priority date: 1970-11-02
Filing date: 1970-11-02
Publication date: 1972-09-26
Anticipated expiration: 1989-09-26

Abstract

Strips of card stock and of film move longitudinally in timed relation with each other. Apertures are formed in the card strip during its longitudinal movement through grinding and cutting zones, the successive apertures being spaced from each other by one card length and each aperture having a thin border of card stock around its edges. The film strip passes through a zone where lines of adhesive are applied to form patterns in the successive sections which correspond to the thin borders of the apertures, after which the film is severed between successive sections and each separate section is applied to one of the apertures in the longitudinally moving strip of card stock. Thereafter the card strip is cut into card lengths and the cards finished by printing or otherwise.

Description

United States Patent Langan [451 Sept. 26, 1972 154] MANUFACTURE OF APERTURE CARDS [72] Inventor:

[22] Filed: Nov. 2, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 86,183

John F. Langan, Pennsauken, NJ.

[52] US. Cl. ..93/l G, 93/35 MW, 93/36 MM,

93/61 A [51] Int. Cl. ..B3lb 1/24, B3 lb l/62, B3lb 1/82 [58] Field of Search...93/l G, 35 MW, 36 MM, 36.3,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,293,996 12/1966 Luning ..93/l G 2,659,340 11/1953 Zinn ..93/36 MM 3,410,162 11/1968 Ruggeri ..93/61 A 3,431,830 3/1969 Stovall ..93/61 A 1,194,244 8/1916 Schwartz ..93/36 MM 1,647,072 10/1927 Bergstein ..93/36 MM 3,051,103 8/1962 Williams ..93/36 MM 3,212,412 lO/1965 Langan ..93/1 G 3,618,483 1l/197l Helm ..93/61 A 3,630,124 l2/l97l- Sauerman ..93/61 A 3,654,006 4/1972 Heller ..93/61 A Primary Examiner-Wayne A. Morse, Jr. Attorney-Cameron, Kerkam & Sutton 5 7] ABSTRACT Strips of card stock and of film move longitudinally in timed relation with each other. Apertures are formed in the card strip during its longitudinal movement through grinding and cutting zones, the successive apertures being spaced from each other by one card length and each aperture having a thin border of card stock around its edges. The film strip passes through a zone where lines of adhesive are applied to form patterns in the successive sections which correspond to the thin borders of the apertures, after which the film is severed between successive sections and each separate section is applied to one of the apertures in the longitudinally moving strip of card stock. Thereafter the card strip is cut into card lengths and the cards finished by printing or otherwise.

8 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEP 2 s 1912 SHEET 2 OF 7 INVENTOR JOHN F LANGAN PATENTEU SEP 26 I972 SHEET 3 BF 7 INVENTOR JOHN F. LA NGAN f 4020200 1%250/22 &5a/fm ATTORNEYS PATENTEDSEPZBIBY? Y 1 3,693,510 SHEEIHOF'YI mvzmoa JOHN F. LANGAN ATTORNEYS PAIENTEUSEPZB 1912 V 3.693.510

SHEET 8 OF 7 mvsm'oa JOHN F. LANGAN gwzazo/zyefiam & Sui/ 0a ATTORNEYS PATENTED SEP 2 6 I972 SHEET 7 BF 7 m\ wt INVENTOI JOHN F LANGAN amazon #0945002 (25112700 nronuns MANUFACTURE OF APERTURE CARDS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the manufacture of aperture cards of known type, in which a card (e.g., a tabulating card for use with business machines) has an aperture covered by a section of film or the like. Such cards have been proposed heretofore in which the aperture is covered by a section of microfilm having a developed image which can be projected either for viewing by an observer or for reproduction with or without magnification. In making such master cards the aperture is sometimes covered temporarily with a removable sheet of paper or like material to provide a complete card surface prior to the eventual substitution of the microfilm section.

Probably the greatest field of use of aperture cards, however, is in the so-called copy card, in which the aperture is covered by a section of film relatively insensitive to ordinary light but capable of developing an image under appropriate conditions. Examples of such film include the well-known diazo film which is used 1 with ammonia processing systems, Kalvaor or Kalfax film which is developed by exposure to ultraviolet light, etc. Such copy cards are produced in great quantities and are extensively used for example in making copies from master cards.

Accordingly, references hereinafter to cover sections" or sheets are intended to describe generically all such forms of aperture cards.

One of the great problems encountered heretofore in the manufacture'of such cards has been to mount the aperture cover, usually a film section, securely in place while at the same time preventing any increase of the combined thickness of the overlapped portions of card and film beyond the original thickness of the card stock. An eminently satisfactory solution to this problem of increased thickness was provided by the method first disclosed and claimed in the prior patent of John F. Langan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,212,412 dated Oct. 19, 1965. According to this method, one side of the card stock is pressed against embossing lands or ridges which cause the material to project from the other side of the stock in a pattern corresponding to the arrangement of the lands, and the projecting material is then removed by grinding to thin the stock throughout only the embossed area supported by the lands. Thereafter the unground portions surrounded by the ground area are removed to form the apertures.

In other Langan U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,224,917 and 3,352,045, dated Dec. 21, 1965, and Nov. 14, 1967, respectively, it was proposed to coat the thin borders of the apertures, formed by the method of U.S. Pat. No. 3,212,412, with tacky adhesive for holding applied aperture covers securely in place. The aperture covers were cut from the end of a roll and the individual sections or cover sheets were then transferred from the cutting location to the moving card strip by means of a vacuum transfer roll.

The subsequent Langan U.S. Pat. No. 3,344,716 dated Oct. 3, 1967, shows a commercial apparatus designed to utilize the method of U.S. Pat. No. 3,212,412. In this case the volume of production was speeded up by the use of a moving strip or web of card stock having a width equal to the width of four individual cards, but at the expense of added slitting apparatus at the end of the machine for subdividing this wide strip into four narrow ones each having the desired card width. This was necessary to increase production, because the permissible speed of longitudinal movement of the web was limited. If the web was moved too rapidly through the grinding zone, the time available to complete the grinding to the depth required by the aforesaid method was correspondingly shortened and the grinding operation tended to become so severe as to damage the web due either to actual tearing or to overheating of the adjacent unground stock. U.S. Pat. No. 3,344,716 proposed a partial solution to this problem by passing the web in series over two rollers each having raised lands, instead of the single roller illustrated diagrammatically in U.S. Pat. No. 3,212,412, thus dividing the grinding operation into steps. However, each partially ground aperture border area leaving the supporting lands of the first roller had to be transferred into exact registry with and support on the lands of the second roller. Proper adjustment or regulation of the travel of the web to obtain this exact registry was difficult to accomplish even at slow longitudinal speed and was not feasible at the desired much higher speeds of movement with which the present invention is concerned.

Experience showed that these prior methods, while capable of producing good products, did not enable truly high-speed commercial production for a number of reasons. In the first place, it is necessary to grind card stock having a thickness of about 0.007 inch against supporting lands down to a thickness of only 0.002 inch or even less in the rectangularly shaped area which eventually forms the border around the edges of the aperture. At the speed of movement of a traveling single-width strip of card stock desired for high-speed production (say 30,000 or more cards per hour), it is difficult to grind uniformly to such a depth in one grinding operation, apart from the risks of tearing completely through the remaining very thin tissue-like material and/or of heat damage to the unground card stock. As already stated, transfer of the partially ground material from one set of lands to another in order to divide up the grinding operation into two or more steps is not feasible at high speeds.

Another problem which gives rise to great difficulty is the control of the adhesive. The use of too much adhesive results in squeezing some of it out beyond the overlapping edges of the applied cover and border so that cards in a stack often stick together. In any event, the presence of ridges or even very small spots of dried adhesive extending above the plane of the card surface creates serious problems. The application of adhesive to the very thin ground aperture borders while they are in rapid motion presents further difficulties.

Thus improvements in the methods and apparatus of the prior patents mentioned above have been required in order to obtain the production speeds desirable in commercial practice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the problems of grinding the successive aperture border regions on a rapidly moving strip or web of car stock by wrapping the web partway around the surface of a drum rotating fast enough to provide the desired linear speed of the strip,

without relative movement between the strip and the drum surface. The entire embossing and grinding operation in each successive aperture border area is completed during the time that the section of the strip containing said area remains in contact with the drum, each aperture region remaining constantly in contact with the same lands during this operation. By using a drum of sufficient diameter, provided with embossing lands spaced peripherally by a distance equal to one card length, the effective length of the grinding zone can be increased so that the number of grinding steps can be increased to any desired extent. For instance, the grinding operation can be performed in ten steps on successive aperture areas of the strip while traveling with the drum at a linear speed sufficient to produce 30,000 or more cards per hour from a single-width strip. In such a case the grinding operation can be adjusted so that on the average about 0.0004 inch of card stock is removed at each grinding step, the original card stock thickness of about 0.007 inch being thus reduced to 0.003 inch or less.

Usually the film or other cover strip will have the width desired for the cover sections to be applied to the cards so that it is only necessary to cut pieces of the required length in succession from the end of the strip in order to provide the desired sections. According to the invention, adhesive is applied to the strip before these sections are cut off. It is desirable to apply the adhesive to each section in lines forming a pattern corresponding to the thin borders of the apertures in the card web. Since the linear speed required for the strip is substantially less than that of the card stock web, for reasons discussed below, difficulties with the application of adhesive are minimized and good control of the amount of adhesive is obtained by applying it to the cover strip instead of to the moving card stock web.

It has been found advantageous to apply the adhesive to the strip in a series of spaced dots aligned so as to form a rectangular linear pattern corresponding to the borders of the apertures. The method of application may be similar to that used in intaglio or gravure printing, as distinguished from relief printing. The strip is passed around an adhesive-applicator roll having peripheral rims engaging the edges of the strip and connected at peripherally spaced points by transverse or axial ribs also engaging the strip. The edges of these rims and/or ribs are in effect serrated or notched so as to provide series of small pockets holding the adhesive which is thus deposited on the strip in the form of aligned dots. The transverse ribs referred to above are in pairs, the two ribs of each pair being spaced just enough to permit the strip to be cut transversely between them leaving a transverse line of adhesive dots on each end of each cut-off section. Meanwhile the peripheral ribs deposit lines of adhesive dots along both edges of the strip between the transverse lines, whereby each section, when cut from the strip, has lines of adhesive dots along all four edges which form a rectangular pattern corresponding to the aperture borders.

The film or other cover strip is thus moved continuously through the adhesive-applying section, but at a linear speed substantially less than that of the card strip since each cover section normally has a length that is considerably less than half that of the card. Each cover section, as it is cut from the end of the strip, is engaged and carried by transfer mechanism into timed registry and contact with one of the apertures of the moving card strip, the adhesive-bearing edges being applied to the aperture borders. In a preferred embodiment, the strip moves over the top of a vacuum roller provided with vacuumized peripheral openings to grip and hold the strip and to carry it around and underneath the roller where it comes into contact with the moving card stock web. A rotating cutter with one or more cutting blades is arranged to cut the strip on the vacuum roller into sections of the proper length as heretofore described, the transverse cuts being made between each two transverse lines of adhesive but the severed sections being held in place on the roller due to the vacuum.

At about the time that a section comes into registry and contact with the moving card stock web, the vacuum is released and the web, which moves longitudinally at a much greater speed than the peripheral speed of the vacuum roller, carries away the severed section which adheres to the ground aperture border. The next following section on the roller remains adhered thereto, however, for a period of rotation sufficient for the card stock web to move longitudinally until the next aperture arrives under the vacuum roller and its borders are contacted by said next following section. Thus the application of successive sections independently and one by one to the card stock web at spaced points takes place very rapidly, but at the same time the linear speed of movement of the strip is slow enough to facilitate applying the adhesive to the strip as above described, as well as cutting the strip on the roller into the desired lengths.

It will be understood that any desired type of adhesive can be employed, provided that it remains sticky until the moment of the application of the cover section to the card strip. If hot melt types of adhesive are used, suitable provision must be made to keep them from cooling off and congealing before the section reaches the card strip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS One embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that said drawings are for purposes of illustration only and are not to be construed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims for this purpose.

in said drawings,

FIG. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic plan view of a finished aperture card embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 comprises diagrammatic illustrations of three separate and successive stages in the manufacture of the card shown in FIG. 1, these successive stages being indicated as A, B, and C;

FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 respectively are sectional views taken on the lines 3-3, 44, and 55 of FIGS. 1 and FIGS. 6 and 7 respectively comprise a side elevation and a plan view of apparatus embodying the invention;

FIGS. 8 and 9 show details in perspective of the grinding mechanism, and FIG. 10 is a section on the line 10-10 ofFIG. 9;

FIGS. 1 l and 12 respectively show details in perspective of the mechanism for handling and processing the card stock web after the grinding operation, and FIG. 13 is a section on the line 13-13 of FIG. 12;

FIGS. 14, 15, and 16 show details in perspective of the mechanism for handling and processing the strip of cover material and applying the cover sections to the apertures in the card stock web, FIG. 16 being a section on the line 16-16 of FIG. and

FIG. 17 shows schematically a piece of the adhesivebearing cover strip before it is cut into lengths as above described.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGS. 1-5 inclusive illustrate various steps in the manufacture of a card by the process of the present invention, FIG. 1 showing the completed card as eventually cut from the web of card stock referred to hereinafter. This finished card 1 can have any desired shape and size and is here shown as a typical IBM punch card adapted for use with mechanical sorting machines, tabulating machines, and the like. Typical punch holes or openings 2 are made by a suitable key punch at coded locations as is well known in the art. In the processing of the card stock, the result of the grinding operation referred to above is shown at stage A of FIG.;'2. Here a portion of the card stock web has been ground over rectangular areas3which are arranged in a rectangular strip pattern surrounding the aperture eventually to be formed in the card by cutting out the surrounded unground portion 4. As already indicated, the card stock will normally have a thicknessin the neighborhood of 0.007 inch and the strips 3 may be ground down to a thickness of only about 0.003 inch or even less. This condition of the card stock is shown in section in FIG. 3.

In the next stage B shown in FIG. 2, the surrounded unground portion 4 of the card is removed by any desired method of punching or cutting operation. It will be understood, of course, that the lines on which the cut is made preferably lie within the ground areas 3 where the thickness of the material to be cut is less than in the unground card stock. A typical aperture is shown in stage B of FIG. 2 and in section in FIG. 4. In this case, the lines 5 of the cut which form the edges of the remaining card aperture are generally rectangular. in outline but are slightly curved, and also the corners of the aperture are slightly rounded instead of being precisely square. This operation provides a card having an aperture 6 therein surrounded by thin ground borders 3.

The final stage C (FIG. 2) of the operation is to apply an adhesive-bearing cover sheet 7, usually a film section, to the borders 3 of the aperture as shown in section in FIG. 5. As will be seen in this Figure, the cover section is cut to a size and shape such that its edges fit within the limits of the ground borders 3 of the aperture, and the combined thickness of the aperture borders 3 and the cover section does not exceed the thickness of the card stock 1. v

Cards of the type illustrated by FIGS. 1-5 inclusive have been disclosed and claimed in the prior patents mentioned above and are in widespread use for many purposes. The present invention, as described hereinafter, relates to a method of producing such cards in large quantities and at low cost. For convenience, the invention will be described with reference to the use of cover material in the form of film, and the card stock will be assumed to be high quality, rather dense but flexible cardboard .of a type and also of a width suitable for use in making the wellknown IBM punch cards currently in widespread use.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show in overall somewhat schematic manner a complete apparatus for processing the film and card stock into finished aperture cards. Generally speaking, this apparatus comprises first a grinding zone including a rather large rotating drum with a series of grinding units spaced around its periphery, in which the card stock is processed to the condition shown as stage A of FIG. 2; secondly, there is an intermediate region or zone in which the card aperture is cut out as shown at stage B (FIG. 2), and in which the film strip is processed from a supply roll and the adhesive-bearing film sections are applied to successive apertures in the strip as indicated at stage C of FIG. 2; thereafter, the continuous web with its succession of film-covered apertures moves to a card finishing region or zone in which the web is cut to card lengths and the cards are printed and/or otherwise completed to the desired final form. This finishing station may for example comprise the well-known Carroll press commonly used in the manufacture of IBM punch cards and is shown herein only diagrammatically since its details are not part of the present invention.

The various driven parts are preferably connected to and driven by a common source of power in order to insure proper timing and synchronization of the various operations to be performed. The details of the necessary driving connections, gear reductions, and the like, and the structure whereby the parts are mounted in proper relative position, may vary and are shown only diagrammatically. Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a framework comprising suitable bed plates 8 and vertical uprights or standards and braces 9 serves to mount the various operating parts to be described. A main driving motor 10 is drivingly connected to a main drive element 11 which in turn drives a gearbox 12 for the intermediate processing station, a gearbox 13 for the rotating drum and a gearbox 14 for the finishing station.

It will be understood that suitable means such as vacuum conduits are preferably provided for carrying away waste material at various points where it may be found, for example, at the grinding stations and at the intermediate station where the center parts of the apertures are cut out. In order not to obscure the illustration of the operating mechanism, such conduits have not been shown in detail in the present drawings.

GRINDING ZONE The details of the preferred embodiment of the grinding mechanism are best shown in the overall elevation and plan views in FIGS. 6 add 7 respectively and in thedetailed views of FIG S. 8-10 inclusive FIG. 6 shows a relatively large wheel or drum 15 having radial spokes 16 extending from a central hub 17 which is mounted on the end of a shaft 18 driven from the gearbox 13 referred to above. In order to control the grinding operation so as to produce the grinding pattern shown in stage A of FIG. 2 and in FIG. 3, the rim of the wheel 15 carries a plurality of grinding units for the web of card stock, each of these units having raised surfaces shaped to conform to the desired grinding pattern and herein referred to as lands by analogy with the prior patents referred to above. To mount these land units in spaced positions around the periphery of the wheel 15, the rim of the wheel is recessed at intervals spaced peripherally by the length of a card. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, each such recess 19 accomodates a block 20 held in place by suitable means such as screws 21, these blocks having depressed center portions and raised lands 22 around their edges in a rectangular strip pattern corresponding to the desired grinding pattern shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The paper stock is supplied from a roll 23, from which the web 24 passes around

suitable guide rollers

25, 26, and 27, and preferably the tension in the web is controlled by one or more dancing rollers 28 or other conventional devices. After leaving the guide roller 27,

the web passes between straighteners 29, around an arcuate guide plate 30, and over a back-up roll 31 for the embossing operation previously mentioned. As the strip passes around the roll 31 and thence around the drum 15, it is first engaged by one of the land units 20 and is embossed against the back-up roll 31 as described in the aforesaid prior patents.

Thereafter, as the web continues to pass around the drum, the protruding embossed areas supported by the sets of lands 22 pass in succession under a plurality of grinding units, here shown as ten in number. The details of one of these units are illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. Each grinding unit is operated by an electric motor, the casing or housing 32 of which is mounted in any suitable manner on the supporting structure previously described. The motor housing has suitable radially extending support members 33 for the housing 34 of a grindstone 35 and supporting members 36 for the drive shaft 37 of the grindstone. Driving connections between the electrical motor and the shaft 37 of any suitable type are contained in a housing 38. The entire grinding unit is mounted on the supporting structure so as to be capable of adjustment about the motor axis, thereby either raising or lowering the stone 35 relative to the circumference of the drum 15 and its lands 22. In order to permit contact of the stone with the paper web 24 traveling underneath it, the housing 34 around the stone is cut away along a line 39 that is approximately tangent to the circumference of the drum, whereby the stone 35 projects out of the casing enough to engage and grind away the embossed ridges on the surface of the card stock.

As shown, there are IO such grinding units around the circumference of the drum l5, and they are preferably adjusted so that their cumulative effect is to grind off card material to a depth of approximately 0.004 inch. The dusty residue produced is removed by suitable vacuum conduits. FIG. 6 shows the ends 40 of such vacuum conduits, one at each grinding unit.

After passing the final grinding unit, the web 24 is taken off the drum around a guide roller 41 (FIGS. 6 and 1 1) and passes to the intermediate processing zone next described.

' INTERMEDIATE PROCESSING ZONE In this zone, through which the web 24 passes after it leaves the drum 15, the apertures are cut out of the web as indicated at stage B of FIG. 2, the film strip is provided with the desired adhesive arranged in the manner already stated, the adhesive-bearing film is cut into sections of the proper length to fit the apertures, and the sections are applied to the apertures. After leaving the intermediate zone therefore, the web needs only to be cut into card lengths and printed and/or otherwise finished in order to provide a final product of the desired form.

The preferred mechanisms for accomplishing these operations in the intermediate zone are illustrated in detail in FIGS. 11-17 inclusive. Referring first to FIG. 11, the web 24 after passing around the guide roller 41 already described, passes between wiping rollers or brushes 42 in the boxlike enclosure 43 and then around a guide roller 44 which is partially enclosed by a vacuumized casing 45, a suitable vacuum connection being shown at 46. The cleaned web 24 passes downwardly from the roller 44 around an arcuate guide plate 47 and thence (FIG. 12) between a supporting roller 48 and roller 49 provided with suitable dies 50 for cutting out the apertures. As shown in section in FIG. 13, each of these dies is seated in a recess 51 in the periphery of the roller 49 and is secured in place by suitable means such as screws 52. Around the outer edge of each die member 50 are raised cutting edges 53 arranged in approximately rectangular shape as already shown at stage B of FIG. 2. As the web 24 passes between the

rollers

48 and 49, therefore, the die member or members 50 rotate into contact with the ground areas 3 on the web and cut out the unground portions 4 so as to form the apertures 6.

Meanwhile, the film in roll form in a suitable magazine 54 passes out from the magazine in the form of a strip 55 which is drawn out of the magazine by the driven pulling rollers 56 and 57. From these pulling rollers the strip 55 passes around

rollers

58, 59 and 60 and then over a supporting roller 61 and between it and an adhesive applying roller 62.

Adhesive in liquid form is contained in a suitable container or pot 63 into which a transfer roller 64 dips so as to pick up adhesive and transfer it to a second roller 65 which delivers the adhesive to the roller 62 mentioned above. The use of both rollers 64 and 65 has been found desirable in order to eliminate excess adhesive.

Also, as already described generally, the adhesive applying roller 62 is specially formed with peripheral ribs or rims 66 which are connected by pairs of transverse, axially extending ribs 67. In this way the application of adhesive to the film strip 55 is made along lines forming a rectangular pattern corresponding in size and shape to the ground borders 3 of the apertures in the card web. FIG. 17 shows this distribution of adhesive on the film strip, including longitudinally extending lines 68 along the edges of the strip connected by transverse lines 69 applied by the transverse ribs 67.

Preferably also the surfaces of the ribs 66 and 67 are roughened, serrated, or pocketed so that the application of adhesive to the film takes place in lines of adhesive dots rather than continuous adhesive lines. This preferred surface condition of the ribs 66 and 67 is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 16, and the resulting dotted application of adhesive to the film strip is shown in FIG. 17. In this way the amount of adhesive is limited so that there is just enough to effect a secure bond between a film section and its aperture borders, but not so much that any of the adhesive is squeezed out from between the overlapping edges.

After adhesive application, the strip 55 next passes over the top of a vacuum transfer roller 70 the circumference of which is provided with vacuumized openings 71 to grip and hold the film in place around this roller. During its passage around half of the roller from its top do its underneath side, the strip is severed into sections by cutting it between the parallel adhesive lines 69 already described and shown in FIG. 17. This can be accomplished suitably by means of a rotating cutter roll 72 (FIG. 14) having one or more knife blades 73 to cut the film strip, the rotation of this roll 72 and of the vacuum transfer roll 70 being properly timed so that a cut is made between each pair of transverse adhesive lines 69. However, the cut sections of film remain on the roller because of the vacuum effect obtained through the openings 71.

The card web 24 passes from the die roller 49 to and underneath the vacuum transfer roller 70 where each successive aperture picks up and carries away one of the severed film sections. it will be seen that these sections are held on the circumference of the vacuum transfer roller with their adhesive bearing sides facing outwardly and ultimately downwardly toward the web 24, and the vacuum which is controlled by a suitable valve plate 74 adjustably mounted at 75, is released just as the leading film section comes into registry and contact with an aperture of the web 24 so that this film section adheres to the web and is carried away with the web toward the finishing zone. Meanwhile the next following film section moves into similar registry and contact with the next following aperture in the card web, and so on. The peripheral speed of the vacuum transfer roller is accordingly substantially slower than the iongitudinal speed of movement of the traveling web 24. This facilitates the application of adhesive and also the cutting of the film strip into the proper length to fit the apertures.

FINAL PROCESSING It will be seen from the foregoing description that the web 24 leaving the intermediate processing zone needs essentially only to be cut into card lengths in order to have finished aperture cards of the type described above in which the apertures are covered by a section of film adhesively secured to the thinly ground borders around the aperture without increasing the thickness of the card.

Usually such cards will eventually be further processed, primarily by printing on one or both sides as may be desired in individual cases. For instance, it will usually be desired to print the face of the card with numerical indications of the coded locations to be punched, and sometimes it may also be desired to trim one corner of the card at a slight angle as shown in FIG. 1. Except for the cutting operation, which can be performed in any of various ways known to the art, such other finishing operations as have been described may take place as a part of the final processing in the present apparatus, or may be reserved for future processing. Apart from the basic operation of cutting the web 24 into card lengths, such finishing operations constitute no part of the present invention and accordingly are not illustrated in detail. As shown, the web 24 leaving the intermediate processing zone described above passes around a guide roller 76 (FIG. 6) into finishing apparatus shown in outline as a Carroll press of the type usually employed in the manufacture of the well-known IBM punch cards wherein the web 24 is not only cut but also the cards are printed and held out of contact with each other until dry, etc.

a The cooperation of the mechanisms described in detail above and defined in the appended claims results in an overall high speed operation with very large production volume. It is possible, for example, for the web 24 to move through the apparatus at a linear speed sufiicient to produce 30,000-35,000 cards per hour. The parts of the apparatus which make possible this high rate of production are defined in the following claims.

lclaim:

1. In the manufacture of aperture cards by the method which comprises moving a strip of card stock continuously through a grinding zone in relatively stationary contact with embossing lands while embossing and partially grinding away the card stock in narrow, elongated areas which are supported by said lands and which surround unsupported and unground areas, said lands being arranged in sets spaced by a distance equal to the length of a card, separating the moving strip from said lands and removing said unground areas from the strip to provide apertures with said thin ground areas extending border-like around the edges of each aperture, applying a cover sheet over each aperture with its edges overlapping and adhesively secured to said ground borders, the combined thickness of said ground areas and the overlapping edges of said cover sheet being no greater than the thickness of said card stock, and cutting the moving strip with the applied cover sheets into card lengths; the improvements which comprise a. moving a strip of cover material continuously through a zone in which adhesive is applied to successive sections of the strip in lines forming in each section a pattern corresponding to said thin borders, the linear speed of movement of said cover strip being substantially less than the linear speed of movement of the card strip,

. cutting the adhesive-bearing cover sections one by one from the end of said moving cover strip, and

c. applying one of said severed adhesive-bearing cover sections to each successive aperture of said moving card strip with the adhesive-bearing edges of the cover section pressed against the ground borders of the aperture.

2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said elongated areas are ground successively thinner at a plurality of grinding stations past which said strip and embossing lands are passed.

3. The method defined in claim 2 in which said sets of embossing lands are arranged at peripherally spaced points around the circumference of a rotating drum, the strip passing around the drum and moving therewith in contact with said lands.

4. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said adhesive is applied to said cover sections as a series of separate dots arranged to form said patterns in discontinuous lines of dots.

of cover material is cut into cover sections'of the desired length while being held on the vacuum roller and during the passage of each section of the strip from the top to the underside of the roller.

8. The method defined in claim 7 wherein said adhesive patterns on said successive sections of said strip include pairs of adhesive lines extending transversely across the strip, each said pair of lines constituting the adjacent ends of successive patterns, and said cuts are made between the two lines of each said pair.

Claims

1. In the manufacture of aperture cards by the method which comprises moving a strip of card stock continuously through a grinding zone in relatively stationary contact with embossing lands while embossing and partially grinding away the card stock in narrow, elongated areas which are supported by said lands and which surround unsupported and unground areas, said lands being arranged in sets spaced by a distance equal to the length of a card, separating the moving strip from said lands and removing said unground areas from the strip to provide apertures with said thin ground areas extending border-like around the edges of each aperture, applying a cover sheet over each aperture with its edges overlapping and adhesively secured to said ground borders, the combined thickness of said ground areas and the overlapping edges of said cover sheet being no greater than the thickness of said card stock, and cutting the moving strip with the applied cover sheets into card lengths; the improvements which comprise a. moving a strip of cover material continuously through a zone in which adhesive is applied to successive sections of the strip in lines forming in each section a pattern corresponding to said thin borders, the linear speed of movement of said cover strip being substantially less than the linear speed of movement of the card strip, b. cutting the adhesive-bearing cover sections one by one from the end of said moving cover strip, and c. applying one of said severed adhesive-bearing cover sections to each successive aperture of said moving card strip with the adhesive-bearing edges of the cover section pressed against the ground borders of the aperture.

5. The method defined in claim 4 in which said lines of adhesive dots are applied to said strip by passing it around a rotating applicator having adhesive-filled pockets for applying said adhesive dots to said strip.

6. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said adhesive-bearing cover strip is fed to the top of a vacuum roller and carried with the roller around and underneath the same and into contact with the moving strip of card stock while simultaneously passing toe latter under the vacuum roller.

7. The method defined in claim 6, wherein said strip of cover material is cut into cover sections of the desired length while being held on the vacuum roller and during the passage of each section of the strip from the top to the underside of the roller.