US3097378A - Continuously operable apparatus for chamfering - Google Patents

Description

July 1963 F. MEYERCORDT ETAL 3,097,378

commuousw OPERABLE APPARATUS FOR CHAMFERING THE ENDS OF ELONGATED WORKPIECES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 28, 1960 FRITZ E R C%% I HA N5 HONN E NS ATTOR N E Y July 16, 1963 F. MEYERCORDT ETAL I CONTINUOUSLY OPERABLE APPARATUS FOR CHAMFERI THE ENDS OF ELONGATED WORKPIECES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 28, 1960 INVENTORS reou rlt ens After 211 y 1963 F. MEYERCORDT ETAL 3,097,378 CONTINUOUSLY OPERABLE APPARATUS FOR CHAMFERING HE ENDS OF ELONGATED WORKPIECES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 28, 1960 INVENTORS eyv'courdt 85-85: m 611-: :ilonnzzu BY Michael S: Sfirikew z ltio n j pressed by a cold Unite 3,997,378 coNrrNUoUsLY oranaarn APPARATUS FOR CHAMFERENG run ENDS on ELONGATED wonkrnschs The present invention relates to apparatus of the type used to manufacture elongated members such as threaded bolts and the like.

Articles of this type are manufactured as by being first pressing apparatus into a shape such as that of a headed bolt with an unthreaded elongated shank, and then the articles can be delivered to a thread rolling machine, for example, so as to have the threads formed in a well known manner in the shanks thereof.

The development of machines of this general type has evolved to quite a high degree of efficiency except for one phase of the operations, so that this one phase of the operations prevents the outputs of machines of this type from being as great as they might otherwise be.

At the end of the cold pressing of the blanks so that they form unthreaded shanks with heads at one end, it is essential to chamfer the free ends of the shanks which are distant from the headed ends thereof, and at this chamfering stage it is impossible to maintain the output capable of being provided by the structures which perform all of the other operations. The reason why it has not yet been possible to maintain the desired output at the chamfering stage of the operations is that the chamfering is of course accomplished by a cutting tool, and it is necessary to provide arrangements which either move the cutting tool toward and away from the workpieces or move the workpieces toward and away from the cutting tool, and as a result it has always been essential to carry out this stage of the process in a stepwise fashion, and because of this necessity the outputs which can be obtained with these machines has never reached the values of which they are potentially capable assuming that there was no unavoidable hold up in the operations at the charnfering stage. It should be noted that not only is there an undesirable delay caused by the necessary relative movement between the tool and workpieces necessitating the stepwise operation referred to above, but in addition the structure is considerably complicated by the provision of a whole series of controls and adjusting devices requiring considerable skill and time on the pant of the operator in order to carry out the operations in the best possible manner.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which will overcome the above drawbacks by providing machines of the above types with structures capable of chamfering the workpieces at their ends in a manner which will be capable of exceeding the largest output which can be provided by other parts of the machine, so that there will no longer be any retarding of the output caused by the chamfering operations.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a structure which will be capable of operating in a fully continuous manner as well as in a fully automatic manner for efficiently chamfering the ends of the workpieces while they move continuously from one part of the machine to another part of the machine so that there will be absolutely no interruptions in the operations as has hitherto been cccassioned by the stepwise operations required at the chamfering stage.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a structure which can accomplish the above objects and atent O 3,697,378 Patented July 16, 1963 which at the same time will render the cutting tool used for chamfering the workpieces easily accessible whenever desired and at the same time capable of being easily and quickly reassembled with the remainder of the structure.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a structure of the above type which will be capable of transporting elongated workpieces from one location to another while at the same time rotating each workpiece around its own axis.

The objects of the invention also include the provision of structure capable of accomplishing all of the above objects and at the same time composed of simple rugged elements which are very reliable in openation and which Will have a long life.

With the above objects in view the invention includes in a machine for chamfering the ends of workpieces, a continuously operable transporting means for transporting workpieces from one location to another as Well as a means which cooperates with the transporting means for rotating the several workpieces around their own axes, respectively, while they are transported from the one location to the other location. Thus, with this structure the rotating workpieces will necessarily have one of their ends moving along a predetermined path, and in accordance with the present invention a chamfering means has cutting portions which move along a second path intersecting the path of movement of the said ends of the Workpieces so that the latter ends gradually approach the chamfening means to be chamfered thereby.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partly sectional elevation of that part of a machine which includes the structure of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan View illustrating pant of the structure of the invention for transporting workpieces while rotating the latter around their axes, respectively;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of structure which cooperates with the lower ends of the workpieces while they are transported with the structure of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a partly sectional elevation of the part of the machine which includes the strrcture shown in FIGS. 1-3.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4 of the drawing, it will be seen that the structure of the invention includes an elongated ventical shaft 2 which is connected With a pair of plates 3 and 3a which are parallel to each other, which are spaced along the shaft 2, and which are coaxial with the latter, these plates 3 and 3a rotating with the shaft 2. The plates 3 and 3a with the shaft 2 form a continuously operable transporting means for transporting the series of elongated workpieces 4 from one location to another location. The machine includes the bearing means 1 which cooperates with the shaft 2 to guide the latter for rotation about its axis. The bearing means 1 is fixed, for example, to an elongated vertically extending member of dovetail cross section sliding in an unillustr-ated dovetail groove of the stationary frame 1a (FIG. 4), and a manually turnable screw member which is rotatably carried -by the frame 1a but which cannot move along its axis is threaded into a threaded bore of the bearing means 1 so that upon manual turning of this screw member the elevation of the bearing means 1 can be adjusted for a purpose described below. The structure shown in the drawings may form part of a press for manufacturing bolts up to the stage where the bolts have unthreaded shanks and are headed at one end, and the structure of the invention deals with such bolts before they are delivered to a thread-rolling machine which may be connected with the structure shown in FIG. 4 by way of the frame 1a.

The shaft 2 is formed with an axial groove which receives a key 7 which is slidably received in an elongated axial groove formed in the interior of a sleeve 6 through which the shaft 2 extends in the manner shown in FIG. 1, and thus the shaft 2 and the sleeve 6 are connected to each other for rotation together while at the same time being axially shiftable one with respect to the other, and a pulley 5 is keyed to the shaft 6 so that when the pulley 5 turns it will turn the sleeve 6 together with the shaft 2. The bearing means 1 fixedly carries through an unillustrated extension of this hearing means a driving motor 5c which drives a pulley 5b which is connected through a belt 5a with the pulley 5 so that in this way the latter pulley is driven and with this structure the drive from the motor 50 is transmitted to the shaft 2 which thus rotates about its axis, and of course when the bearing means 1 is vertically adjusted in the manner described above the motor 50 together with the pulleys 5 and 5b as well as the belt 5a are also vertically adjusted so as to maintain the same elevational relationship with respect to the vertically adjusted structure. As may be seen from FIG. 1 the upper end portion of the sleeve 6 is formed with a groove which receives a split ring bearing against the top end of the bearing 1 so that the sleeve 6 together with the structure carried thereby is also adjusted in elevation together with the bearing means 1.

The shaft 2 is formed with an axial bore extending into the shaft from its top end, and an elongated coil spring 8 extends into this bore and presses against the bottom end thereof so as to urge the shaft 2 downwardly, as viewed in FIG. 1. Thus, the shaft 2 is always urged downwardly by the spring 8 in the direction of the arrow 9, and the bottom end of the shaft '2 is pressed by the spring 8 against a pressure plate 10 shown in FIG. 1. At its upper end the shaft 2 is provided with an outwardly directed annular flange 11 which forms a stop means engaging the top end of the sleeve 6 in the position of the parts shown in FIG. 1 so as to limit the downward movement of the shaft 2 with respect to the sleeve 6, and it will be seen that in position of the parts shown in FIG. 1 where the spring 8 presses the shaft 2 against the pressure plate 10, the flange 11 has just engaged the top end of the sleeve 6 so that the shaft 2 cannot move downwardly beyond the position shown in FIG. 1 with respect to the sleeve 6. A stationary bracket which is carried by the frame 1a is formed with a threaded bore through which a screw 12 threadedly passes (FIG. 1), and this screw 12 extends partly into the coil spring 8 and has a shoulder against which the top end of the coil spring lbears. Thus, by turning the screw 12 it is possible to adjust compression of the coil spring 8, and a lock nut 13 is carried by the screw 12 to maintain the latter fixed in its position of adjustment.

As is apparent from FIG. 1, the plate 3 of the transporting means is fixed directly to the bottom end of the sleeve 6 for rotary movement with this sleeve and the shaft 2. The lower plate 3a of the transporting means is fixed directly to the bottom end of the shaft 2, so that the plates 3 and 3a turn together. As is shown most clearly in FIGS. 2 and 3, the plates 3 and 3a of the transporting means are each formed with a series of notches 15 at their peripheries, and the notches 15 of one of these plates are respectively aligned vertically with the notches 15 of the other of these plates. The workpieces 4 are adapted to be located in these notches so as to be transported by the rotary plates from one location to another. A supply means in the form of a chute of a magazine is provided for automatically supplying the workpieces to the transporting means, and such a chute 16 is shown fragmentarily in FIG. 2. The several workpieces 4 are maintained in a vertical position in the chute and they can either slide from the chute by gravity so as to enter automatically into the notches as they move into alignment with the outlet end of the chute 16, or a spring means may urge the line of workpieces toward the outlet end of the chute 16 to enter into the notches. Thus, the supply means 16 delivers the workpieces to one location where they are automatically taken up by the transporting means and moved along a circular path to a second location, the chute 17 being located at the second location to receive the workpieces automatically in the manner indicated in FIG. 2, and by the time the workpieces reach the second location, where the receiving chute 17 is located the bottom ends of the several workpieces will have been chamfered with the structure of the invention.

As was pointed out above, one of the major drawbacks of conventional structures is that the cutting tool must be moved toward the workpieces or the workpieces toward the cutting tool, thus necessitating a stepwise operation. According to one feature of the present invention, this drawback is avoided by providing for charnfering the bottom ends of the workpieces 4, a chamfering means which includes the rotary side-milling cutter 19 (FIG. 1) whose axis of rotation is parallel to but spaced from the axis of rotation of the transporting means 2, 3, 311 so that the chamfering means is eccentrically mounted with respect to the transporting means. The cutting tool 19 is fixed with a shaft 18 driven by the motor 28, and the position of this shaft as well as the outer tips of the teeth of the cutting tool are indicated in FIG. 2 with respect to the periphery of the plates 3 and 3a and the shaft 2. As a result of this arrangement the cutting portions of the milling cutter 19 turn along a path which intersects the path of turning of the bottom ends of the workpieces 4 at an intermediate portion of this latter path. Thus, referring to FIG. 2 it will be seen that the workpieces when they first leave the supply means 16 are located radially beyond the cutting tool 19 whose cutting portions do not intersect the path of movement of the bottom ends of the workpieces at this location.

However, as the workpieces are transported in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2, around the axis of the shaft 2, the bottom ends of the workpieces gradually approach and finally are engaged by the cutting portions of the chamfering tool so as to be cut by the latter, and in this way a continuous operation is provided. When the workpieces reach the receiving chute 17 their bottom ends will have had the chamfering operations completely performed thereon.

Of course, in order to have the bottom ends of the workpieces uniformly chamfered all around the axes of the workpieces, it is necessary for the workpieces to rotate around their axes, respectively, while they are transported by the transporting means from the chute 16 to the chute 17, and in accordance with the invention a means co-operates with the transporting means to rotate the workpieces around their axes, respectively, while they are transported. The means for rotating the workpieces around their axes takes the form of an elongated band 20 made of any suitable material such as sheet metal, plastic, leather, or the like, this material being flexible but substantially non-stretchable. As is apparent from FIG. 2 the band 20 is fixedly connectedat its right end to a stationary holder, passes around a guide member into engagement with the workpieces when they are located just beyond the chute 16, and the other end portion of the band 20 passes around a second guide member to be connected to a second holder which is guided for axial movement in a suitable tubular guide. This tubular guide receives a spring means 21 which bears at one end against the guide and at another against a washer carried by the holder so as to urge the latter in a direction which tensions the band 21) and urges the portions thereof which engage the several workpieces radially toward the axis of the plate 3. As is apparent from FIG. 1, the band 20 is located at the elevation of the plate 3, and the structure which supports the band 20 is connected to the bearing means but so as to remain at all times at the elevation of the plate 3. Thus, the band 20 provides a surface along which the workpieces 4 roll while they are trans ported by the transporting means and in this way the workpieces are rotated so that the bottom ends thereof rotate while being worked on by the tool 19, and thus the workpieces are uniformly chamfered at their bottom ends.

In order to render the workpieces easily rotatable the plate 3 carries a plurality of rollers 20a which are supported for free rotation on the plate 3, and a pair of rollers are located closely adjacent to the opposite sides of each notch projecting slightly into the notch so that the shanks of the workpieces engage the rollers 26a and thus the workpieces can rotate freely while being transported.

At the elevation of the lower plate 3a of the transporting means a series of segments 22 (FIG. 3) are carried by a framework connected to the motor 28, and the segments 22 have surfaces directed toward the axis of the plate 3a and engaging the workpieces so as to maintain the workpieces in the notches of the plate 3a. The several segments 22 are formed with elongated slots 23 through which respectively extend pins 24 fixedly carried by the structure which carries the segments 22 so that these segments are guided by the pin-and-slot structure 23, 24 for radial movement toward and away from the axis of the plate 3a, and the structure which carries the segments 22 also carries an elongated coil spring 25 which is tensioned between a pair of supporting posts connected respectively to the ends of the coil spring. The spring 25 extends into outer grooves respectively formed in the segments 22 so that the spring 25 urges these segments toward the axis of the plate 3a to maintain the segments in engagement with the workpieces, and thus the workpieces are reliably maintained in the notches of the plate 3a.

Referring to FIG. 1, the shaft 2 is shown therein oarrying at its bottom end a bearing 26 which receives an upper projection of the pressure plate which has a lower projection received in a bearing 27 which is connected to the top end of the drive shaft 18 which is keyed to the annular tool carrying member which carries the tool 19. The spring 8 guarantees that the shaft 2 is pressed at its bottom end against the pressure plate 10, and through this pressure plate 10 the transporting means is connected with the chamfering means. Of course, the upper plate 3 is vertically adjustable toward and away from the lower plate 3a so that the transporting means can accommodate workpieces of different length, and the vertical adjustment of the above-referred to dovetail member will result in vertical movement of the bearing means 1 together with the sleeve 6, the upper plate 3, the pulley 5, the structure for rotating the latter, the band 20, and the structure for supporting and tensioning this band, this latter structure being carried by the bearing means 1. In this way, while the shaft 2 remains stationary and in engagement with the pressure plate 10, it is possible to adjust all of the structure carried by the bearing means 1 so as to adjust the elevation of the plate 3 with respect to the plate 3a which is fixed to the bottom end of the shaft 2.

In accordance with the present invention, the abovedescribed support means for the bearing means 1 afid the structure carried thereby is entirely independent of a second support means which carries the motor 28 and the chamfering tool 19 as well as the segments 22 and the spring 25. This latter support means on the one hand enables the elevation of the cutting tool to be adjusted and on the other hand enables the chamfering tool to be turned to an inoperative position where it is easily accessible so as to be capable of convenient removal or sharpening, replacement, or the like. Thus, referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the framework 29 carries the motor 2 8 as well as the structure which supports the segments 22 and the carrier for the tool 19, :and this framework 29 has a pair of extensions 29a and 29b formed with coaxial bores which receive a shaft. 30, the upper extension 291) resting on a shoulder of the shaft 30, as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 4. This shaft 30 is turnable in a pair of stationary coaxial bearings 31a and 31b fixed to the frame 1a of the machine, and the: lower bearing 31a turnably carries a nut 32 to which a. handwheel 33 is fixed. Thus, by turning the handwheel 33 the nut 32 will be turned, and a threaded portion of the shaft 30 is threaded into this nut while the shaft 30 is provided with a key way carrying a key received by the bearing 31b so that the shaft 30 can move axially but cannot turn. Thus, upon turning of the nut 32 the elevation of the shaft 30' will be changed and it can be moved downwardly from the position shown in FIG. -1 so as to lower the entire structure 29 and all of the parts carried thereby. Because of the engagement of the stop shoulder 11 with the top end of the sleeve 6 the shaft 2 cannot move downwardly beyond the position shown in FIG. 1, and thus upon downward movement of the shaft 30 and the framework 29 the tool 19 will be lowered away from the shaft 2 until the tool 19 can be turned together with the motor 28 and the frame-work 29 around the shaft 30' so as to render the tool 19 freely accessible. Of course, the pressure plate 141 is lowered with the tool 19. In order to replace the tool 19 in its operating position it is simply turned back and raised until the upper boss of the pressure plate ltl enters into the bearing 26. If the tool 19 should be moved upwardly beyond the position shown in FIG. 1 in order to have a better position with respect to the bottom end of the workpieces, for example, the plate 3a and shaft 2 will move upwardly with the tool 19 and the spring 8 will be compressed to a greater degree. Thus, the shaft 2 automatically accommodates itself to the elevation of the tool 19. The framework 29 can be lowered until its extension 2% engages the bearing 31b.

Of course, instead of the above-described independent drives for the transporting means 2, 3, 3a and the tool 19, respectively, it is possible to drive these structures from the drive of the press which forms the workpieces which are acted on by the tool 19.

It will be noted that with the structure of the invention not only is there a continuous movement of the workpieces with respect to the continuously rotating tool 19, but in addition several of the workpieces are simultaneously acted on by the tool 19.

Of course, variations of the above-described structure are possible within the scope of the invention. For example, instead of springs 8, 21 and 25 it is possible to use pistons acted upon by any pressure fluid. Also, instead of a continuous band 20 it is possible to use a series of connected segments similar to the segments 22 of FIG. 3 for the purpose of providing a surface along which the workpieces roll "while they are transported, such segments being resiliently urged toward the axis of the plate 3 to provide the necessary frictional contact between the rolling surface and the workpieces. Also, instead of rollers 20a, it is possible to mount on the plate 3 rotary clamps to which the workpieces are clamped so as to rotate with these clamps.

With the structure of the invention the several workpieces are automatically transported while being simultaneously rotated around their axes, respectively, and the path along which they are transported causes the workpieces to gradually approach and finally engage the cutting tool 19.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of chamfering apparatus differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a continuously operated chamfering apparatus, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a continuously operable apparatus for chamfering the ends of elongated workpieces, in combination, continuously operable rotary transporting means rotatable about a vertical axis for successively transporting elongated vertical workpieces from one location to another location with one end of each workpiece moving along a first arcuate path during turning of the workpieces with said transporting means; continuously operable chamfering means for chamfering said one ends of the workpieces, said chamfering means having rotary cutting portions which move along a second arcuate path intersecting said first path at an intermediate portion thereof so that said one end of each workpiece gradually approaches the cutting portions to be cut thereby during transportation of the workpieces by said transporting means; means cooperating with said transporting means for rotating each workpiece around its own axis while each workpiece is transported by said transporting means so that the cut-- ting portions will chamfer the rotating ends of the workpieces, said charnfering means being located beneath and directly adjacent to a part of said transporting means; spring means urging said part of said transporting means downwardly toward said chamfering means; support means cooperating with said charnfering means for supporting the same for movement downwardly from and upwardly toward said transporting means and said support means also supporting said chamfering means for turning movement away from said transporting means after said chamfering means has been lowered away from said transporting means; and stop means cooperating with said transporting means for limiting the downward movement of said part thereof, so that said part of said transporting means will not follow the downward movement of said chamfering means when the latter is moved downwardly away from said transporting means.

2. In a machine for chamfering the ends of elongated workpieces, in combination, a pair of spaced parallel coaxial plates each formed within its periphery with a plurality of notches, and the notches of one plate being aligned with notches of the other plate; an elongated shaft extending along the common axis of said plates and connected to said plates to rotate the latter when said shaft rotates, one of said plates being located at one end of said shaft; supply means cooperating with said plates for supplying thereto a series of elongated workpieces which extend parallel to said shaft and which enter into the aligned notches of said plates during rotation thereof with said shaft with each workpiece respectively engaged adjacent its ends by said plates; a rotary side milling cutter located closely adjacent to said one plate at the end of said shaft and having an axis of rotation parallel to but spaced from the axis of rotation of said shaft, said cutter being adapted to be positively driven and having teeth which turn into the path of movement of the ends of the workpieces engaged by said one plate; a pressure plate located between and engaging said cutter and said end of said shaft and said pressure plate respectively carrying at opposite sides thereof a pair of bearing means which are-respectively coaxial with said shaft and cutter and which guide said shaft and cutter for rotary movement, whereby said pressure plate and pair of bearing means serve to interconnect the shaft and cutter, said pressure plate being carried by said cutter and said shaft, being supported by said pressure plate; and means cooperating with the plates for providing the workpieces with a surface along which they roll while they turn with said plates about the axis of said shaft, so that the workpieces will rotate around their axes while they are cut by said side milling cutter to be chamfered by the latter.

3. In a machine for charnfering the ends of elongated workpieces, in combination, a pair of spaced parallel coaxial plates each formed within its periphery with a plurality of notches, and the notches of one plate being aligned with notches of the other plate; an elongated shaft extending along the common axis of said plates and connected to said plates to rotate the latter when said shaft rotates, one of said plates being located at one end of said shaft; supply means cooperating with said plates for supplying thereto a series of elongated workpieces which extend parallel to said shaft and which enter into the aligned notches of said plates during rotation thereof with said shaft with each workpiece respectively engaged adjacent its ends by said plates; a rotary side milling cutter located closely adjacent to said one plate at the end of said shaft and having an axis of rotation parallel to but spaced from the axis of rotation of said shaft, said cutter being adapted to be positively driven and having teeth which turn into the path of movement of the ends of the warkpieces engaged by said one plate; a pres sure plate located between said shaft and cutter and respectively, carrying at opposite sides a pair of bearing means coaxial with said shaft and cutter and guiding said shaft and cutter, respectively, for rotary movement, so that said pressure plate and pair of bearing means serve to interconnect said shaft and cutter, said pressure plate being carried by said cutter and said shaft being supported by said pressure plate; means cooperating with the plates for providing the workpieces with a surface along which they roll while they turn with said plates about the axis of said shaft, so that the workpieces will rotate around their axes while they are out by said side milling cutter to be chamfered by the latter; limiting means limiting the movement of said plates and shaft toward said cutter; support means supporting said cutter for movement along its axis toward and away from said one plate at said end of said shaft, said support means also supporting said cutter for movement around an axis parallel to but spaced from the axis of said cutter as well as the axis of said shaft, so that the cutter can be moved away from the shaft and plates and then turned to a position where said cutter is accessible.

4. In a machine for chamfering the ends of elongated workpieces, in combination, a pair of spaced parallel coaxial plates each formed in its periphery with a plurality of notches, and the notches of one plate being aligned with the notches of the other plate; a rotary sleeve connected to one plate for rotating the same; an elongated shaft extending through said rotary sleeve along the common axis of said plates and sleeve and the other of said plates being connected to an end of said shaft which is distant from said sleeve; means connecting said shaft and sleeve to each other for rotation together but freeing said shaft for axial movement relative to said sleeve whereby said shaft rotates with said sleeve so that said plates rotate together and said other plate which is connected to said end of said shaft is movable toward and away from said one plate which is connected to said sleeve; supply means cooperating with said plates for supplying thereto a series of elongated workpieces which extend parallel to said shaft and which enter into the aligned notches of said plates during rotation thereof with said shaft and sleeve with each workpiece respectively engaged adjacent its ends by said plates; a rotary side milling cutter adapted to be positively driven located closely adjacent to said other plate at said end of said shaft and having its axis of rotation parallel to but spaced from the axis of rotation of said shaft, said cutter having teeth which turn into the path of movement of the ends of said workpieces engaged by said other plate; a pressure plate located between and engaging said other plate which is fixed to said end of said shaft and said rotary cutter, said pressure plate being carried by said rotary cutter and said shaft being supported by said pressure plate; spring means cooperating with said shaft for urging the latter toward said cutter so as to maintain said other plate and said cutter in engagement with said pressure plate; means cooperatingwith said pair of plates for providing the workpieces with a surface along which they roll while they turn with said pair of plates about the axis of said shaft so that the workpieces will rotate around their axes while they are cut by said side milling cutter to be chamfered by the latter; and means operatively connected to said cutter for moving the same axially so that the distance 1% between said pair of plates will be adjusted While said other plate which is connected to said end of said shaift remains at the same distance from said cutter and has the same relationship thereto irrespective of the adjusted distance between said pair of plates.

5. In a machine as recited in claim 4, said pressure plate respectively carrying at opposite sides a pair of bearing means respectively coaxial with said shaft and cutter and cooperating therewith to guide the same for rotary movement so that said pressure plate and pair of bearing means serve to interconnect said shaft with said cutter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 993,981 Grover May 30, 1911 1,660,417 Crehan Feb. 28, 1928 1,697,595 Henderson Jan. 1, 1929 2,519,434 Buccicone Aug. 22, 1950 2,716,905 Wernli Sept. 6, 1955

Claims (1)

1. IN A CONTINUOUSLY OPERABLE APPARATUS FOR CHAMFERING THE ENDS OF ELONGATED WORKPIECES, IN COMBINATION, CONTINUOUSLY OPERABLE ROTATARY TRANSPORTABLE ABOUT A VERTIVAL AXIS FOR SUCCESSIVELY TRANSPORTING ELONGATED VERTICAL WORKPIECES FROM ONE LOCATION TO ANOTHER LOCATION WITH ONE END OF EACH WORKPIECE MOVING ALONG A FIRST ARCUATE PATH DURING TURNING OF THE WORKPIECES WITH SAID TRANSPORTING MEANS; CONTINUOUSLY OPERABLE CHAMFERING MEANS FOR CHAMFERING SAID ONE ENDS OF THE WORKPIECES, SAID CHAMFERING MEANS HAVING ROTARY CUTTING PORTIONS WHICH MOE ALONG A SECOND ARCUATE PATH INTERSECTING SAID FIRST PATH AT AN INTERMEDIATE PORTION THEREOF SO THAT SAID ONE END OF EACH WORKPIECE GRADUALLY APPROACHES THE CUTTING PORTIONS TO BE CUT THEREBY DURING TRANSPORTATION OF THE WORKPIECES BY SAID TRANSPORTING MEANS; MEANS COOPERATING WITH SAID TRANSPORTING MEANS FOR ROTATING EACH WORKPIECE AROUND ITS OWN AXIS WHILE EACH WORKPIECE IS TRANSPORTED BY SAID TRANSPORTING MEANS SO THAT THE CUT-

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