CA1166486A - Multiple action press tool - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A device is disclosed for shaping one end of a steel billet heated to forging temperature in order to form an extension useful as a tong hold. The device is adapted for working with a press and operates such that the movement of the press ram down and up results in completion of the shape of the tong hold. This is achieved by a wedge-shaped member normally secured to the ram of the press and by a specially designed workpiece holder cooperating with cutters and with an anvil, all responsive to the operative movement of the ram of the press. The device is simple in structure and can be relatively easily adapted for use on virtually any press. There are very few parts of the device that have to be replaced when effecting changeover from one type of billet to another.

Description

~ ~`6~86 The present invention relates to a device for the shaping of one end of a steel billet heated to a forging temperature to form an extension suitable as a tong hold or the like.
The purpose of the tong hold is to provide than an operator can hold the workpiece with a pair of tongs at a part of the workpiece so as not to interfere with the forging operation itself. In other words, the operator is then able to maneuver the billet on a set of dyes in the forging process using a preferably minimum amount of steel for the purpose of holding on to the billet. The tong hold is eventually removed from the workpiece by trimming or the like. It is known to provide the steel billet approximately one inch longer to use the extended portion as a tong hold or to weld a stud at one end of the workpiece as a tong hold.
Both of the known methods are wasteful in that either a relatively large volume of steel is re~uired in the first instance or, in the second example, the operation is time consuming.
It is an object of the present invention to avoid the above deficiencies of the prior art.
In general terms, and in one aspect thereof, the present invention provides a multiple action press tool for the shaping of one end of a steel billet heated to forging temperature, to form an extension at said one end integral with the rest of said billet and suitable as a tong hold or the like, said tool comprising a first part and a second part, said parts being adapted to become secured to one of a ram section and a table section, respectively, of a press, said first part comprising (a) workpiece support means having a longitudinal axis and adapted for holding a respective billet in a position wherein longitudinal axis of the billet is parallel with the longitudinal axis of the support means and extending generally perpendicularly to the direction of movement of the respective ram relative to the respective tab~e; (b) cutter blade means reciprocable perpendicularly ~ 166~86 to the longitudinal axis of the support means and adapted to produce cuts at mutually opposite sides of the billet near one end thereof; (c) said second part comprising wedge means provided with a slot dividing the wedge means into two generally identical halves, each of said halves being adapted to enter one of said cuts and to penetrate same when a respective press is operated, to thus stretch a section of the billet between the respective cut and said one end.
In another aspect of the present invention, and still defining same in general terms, the invention provides, in a press including a stationary base and a ram moveable along a line generally perpendicular to the base: (a) a wedge-shaped member fixedly secured to the ram and including (i) a first generally planar wedging surface generally parallel with the direction of movement of the ram, and a second generally planar wedging surface convergent with the former and defining with same a transverse, normally generally horizontal lower edge; (ii) a cutout defining a channel disposed centrally of said wedging surfaces, said channel having two generally planar, parallel side walls and a downwardly facing bottom wall disposed at a point remote from the lower edge and extending in a generally horizontal direction from the first wedging surface to the second wedging surface, each said side wall being coincident with a plane generally perpendicular to both said wedging surfaces; (b) a support member secured to the base and including a workpiece holder, an anvil member and a pair of cutters, in which (i) sa~d workpiece holder degines a longitudinal recess complementary with a workpiece; (ii) resilient means are operatively associated with said holder to maintain same at a position above the base but to render same resiliently displaceable a predetermined distance in the direction towards the base; (iii) said anvil member is adjacent to the holder at one end of the recess and is coextensive with the recess, the anvil being fixedly secured to the ~ase and thus being relatively movable with respect to the holder, the anvil member being coextensive with or below the ~ 166~6 levlel of a bottom of the recess when the holder is at said position above the base, but being above the level of the bottom of the recess when the holder is at its lowermost position; (iv) said pair of cutters including a pair of cutter blades each defining a generally vertical straight cutting edge, each located to one side of the anvil member and adajcent the holder; (v) said cutters being movable from a first position wherein the spacing between the cutting edge is greater than the width of the wedge-shaped member, to a second position wherein the cutting edges are each disposed generally within the plane of coincidence with one of the side walls of said cutout.
The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to an exemplary embodiment of a model of the device of the present invention shown in simplified fashion in the accompanying drawings.
IN THE D~AWINGS:
Figure 1 is a simplified partial view of a press incorporating an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, certain parts of the press and of the device being omitted for the sake of clarity.
Figures 2a through 2d are simplified, partial, diagramatic views of a steel billet, showing different stages of production of the tong hold as produced by the device of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a simplified, partial view generally along the line III-III of Figure l; and Figure 4 is a view similar to that of Figure 3 but showning the mutual arrangement of the shown elements as at the stage with the ram of the press down.
As mentioned above, the drawings show the present invention by way of reference to a simplified model it being understood that different parts have been omitted for the sake of clarity.
Turning now to the embodiment shown in Figure 1, reference numeral 10 designates a table or base of a press. Shown at the top of Figure 1 and designated with reference numeral 11 ~ 166~8fi is a ram of the press, it being understood that the ram 11 is adapted to move back and forth, when driven along the arrow 12. The drive means of the ram 11 are not shown for the sake of clarity. Fixedly secured to the ram 11 are two upright members 13, 14, the lower ends of members 13, 14 being interconnected by a horizontal transverse beam 15.
Thus, the ram 11, the uprights 14 and 13 and the transverse beam 15 form an integral unit movable up and down along the arrow 12. The upright member 13 has a cam section 16 near the lower end of the upright member 13. The upright member 14 has a similar cam section 17 disposed at the same level as the cam section 16 referred to above.
Fixedly secured to the ram 11 is a block 18 which is shown as being integral with a wedge-shaped member 19. The wedge-shaped member 19 has two planar, mutually convergent surfaces, namely a first wedging surface 20 and a second wedging surface 21. The surface 20 is generally parallel with the direction of the arrow 12 while the second surface 21 is downwardly convergent to form, together with the first wedging surface, a lowermost edge 22 extending transversely and being generally horizontal. The wedging member 19 is provided with a slightly upwardly convergent cutout generally referred to with reference numeral 23. The cutout is of a narrow rectangular cross-sectional configurationand extends horizontally throughout the wedge-shaped member 19.
It has two planar upright sides and a narrow generally hori-zontally extending and downwardly facing bottom surface 24.
Moveable within the cutout 23 is a tong section or plate 25 which is integral with a spring loaded base plate 26 secured to the block 18 and resiliently maintained at a spacing there-from due to the arrangement of a pair of springs of which one is referred to with reference numeral 27. Accordingly, an imaginary pressure exerted upon plate 25 in upward direction brings the plate 25 into coincidence with the bottom surface 24 but as soon as such hypothetical upward pressure drops below a predetermined value, the spring 27 and the second unmarked spring will bring the base plate 26 and thus the plate 25 t 16648fi back to the position shown in Figure 1. Those skilled in the! art will readily appreciate that the downwardly facing surface of the plate 25 thus forms a forging surface while the springs acting at plate 26 perform the function of ejector springs.
Fixedly secured on top of the base 10 are relatively massive guide members 28, 29, 30 and 31. Each of the pairs of guide members 28-29; 30-31 receives therehetween a sliding block 32, 33, respectively. The sliding blocks 32, 33 are guided with respect to the respective blocks 28-31 by fish tail-shaped guide surfaces such as marked at 34 with respect to the guide member 31 and block 33.
The forward end of each of the sliding blocks 32, 33 is provided with a removably secured blade 35, 36, respectively, each of the blades 35, 36, having a straight upright edge.
In the configuration shown in Figure 1, the spacing between the upriyht edges of the blades 35, 36, corresponds to the width of the wedge-shaped member 19. Accordingly, the wedge-shaped member 19 could now pass between the edges of blades 35, 36 without damaging same.
The opposite or rear ends of each block 32, 33 are each provided with a roller or follower 37, 38 rotatably secured to the respective block 32, 33 and maintained in rolling contact with the respective upright member 14, 13 by spring or the like means (not shown) urging the block 32 towards the upright 14 and another spring (not shown) urging block 33 towards its upright 13.
It will be appreciated from the above description that the movement of the ram 11 downwards from the position shown in Figure 1 will result in simultaneous sliding of blocks 32, 33, (and thus of blades 35, 36) towards each other as the ram moves down. At the end of the downward stroke, the followers 37, 38 will eventually reach beyond the respective cam sections 16, 17 to assume generally the same relative position as shown in Figure 1 except that the ram 11 would now be down at the base 10.

~ 1~6~86 Reference numeral 39 designates an anvil base fixedly secured to the base 10 of the press and having an anvil section 40 which is so shaped and arranged that on displace-ment of the ram 11 with its lowermost position, the anvil section 40 is received within the cutout 23. The anvil section 40 and the anvil base 39 are both fixedly secured to the base 10 and are not movable relative to same.
Reference numeral 41 designates a wor~piece holder.
The holder 41 is a solid steel plate supported by four springs 42 at a predetermined spacing above the top surface of the base 10. Disposed centrally of the plate 41 is a V-shaped channel 43 whose shape is complementary with the lower half of the shape of the billet shown in Figure 2, as will be referred to hereinafter. It is to be appreciated that the channel 43 is the only part of what is generally referred to as "a longitudinal recess complementary with a workpiece", it being understood that in many cases it may be feasible to provide additional means firmly securing the workpiece within the channel 43. It is also apparent from Figure 1 that the channel 43 is coaxial longitudinally with the anvil section 40.
In the position shown in Figure 1, the bottom or lower-most part of the channel 43 is generally coplanar with or very slightly above the top surface of the anvil section 40.
The extent of downward movement allowed on overcoming the pressure of springs 42 is such that with the plate 41 resting on the top surface of the base 10, the level of the top surface of the anvil section 40 would be slightly above the level of the lowermost part of the channel 43, approximately one half of the depth of the channel 43, as will be described later on.
The level of the lowermost part of the channel 43 is shown by reference numeral 44 in Figures 3 and 4. On the other hand, the level of the top surface of the anvil member 40 is referred to with reference numeral 45.
In operation, a billet 46 (Figure 2) is placed into the channel 43 as shown in broken lines in the representation of Figure 3. At this position, the lower surfaces 47, 48 of the ~ 166486 billet having a square shaped cross section configuration rests against the inside walls defining the channel 43.
A member which can be used in fixedly securing the billet to the plate 41 and to the channel 43 by clamping it on top is now shown for the sake of clarity. It will be seen from Figure 3 that one end portion 49 of the billet is disposed b~yond the end of channel 43 and above the anvil 39.
If one compares the representation of Figures 3 and 4 with what is shown in Figure 1, one can see that the cutting edges of the blades 35, 36 are generally coincident with a vertical plane coinciding with the end of the workpiece holder 41 at the anvil section 40.
Referring now again to Figures 1, 2a and 3, the billet 49 rests in the channel 43 with a part of the lowermost edge 50 at the end portion 49 spaced very slightly above the planar top surface of the anvil section 40. Assuming now that the press shown in Figure 1 is operated to move the ram in downward direction (arrow 12 in Figure 1), the movement will first of all result in displacement of the sliding blocks 32, 33 inwards, due to the engagement of the followers 37, 38 with the cam sections 17, 16, respectivel~.
This will bring the blades 35 and 36 temporarily close to each other such that the vertical edges thereof produce at each side of the billet 46 an incision 51, 52 (Figure 2b).
As the ram 11 continues its movement downwards, the followers 37, 38 will have reached the upper ends of the cam section 17, 16, as viewed in Figure 1, making it possible for the springs or other suitable means (none of which is shown in the drawings) to return the blocks 32, 33 back so as to make space for the wedge member 19 between the cutting edges of blades 35, 36.
The mutual position of blades 35 and 36 is now identical to that shown in Figure 1, even though Figure 1 shows the state at the beginning of the operating stroke. The transverse edge 22 of the wedge-shaped member 19 is now immediately above the billet 46. As the ram 11 continues its downward movement, the ~ 1~`6486 edge 22 enters incisions 51 at each side of the billet 46.
The continuing movement of the wedge 21 downwards results in that the anvil section 40 will now enter the cutout 23 in the wedge-shaped member 19. The wedging action of the surEace 21 results in forcing a part of the material of the billet 46 forwardly of the incision 51 to move towards the end 48 thus forcing a part of the material of the billet 46 to move forwards towards the end disposed above the anvil 40.
This movement continues until there is any material to be displaced by the wedging surface 21. Eventually, all of the material liberated by the incision 51 is moved toward the free end, the billet thus assuming approximately the shape as shown in Figure 2c. At this stage, two sides 52, 53 are formed due to the drawing effect of the wedging surface 21 and the side walls of the recess or cutout 23.
The downward movement of the wedge shaped member 19 now continues until the downwardly facing surface of the plate 25 contacts the top edge 54 of the billet. Virtually simultaneously, the bottom edge 50 engages the top surface of the anvil section 40 as the workpiece holder 41 is now subjected to a force sufficient to overcome the pressure of springs 42. Accordingly, the entire workpiece holder 41 is now pushed down toward the top surface of the base 10. This movement results, first, in displacement of plate 26 such that it rests on the bottom surface 24 of the cutout 23. The workpiece is now forged such that a top surface 55 (Figure 2b) and a bottom surface 56, parallel with the surface 55, are formed simultaneously by engagement of the workpiece with the downwardly facing surface of the plate 25 and with the top of the anvil portion 40. The mutual arrangement of the parts is such that at the lowermost position of the ram 11 of the press results in the spacing between the downwardly facing surface of member 25 and the top of anvil member 40 generally corresponding to the distance between the surfaces 55 and 56 of the tong hold 57 which is thus formed. The mutual position of the elements forming the upper and lower surfaces 55, 56 of the tong hold is shown in Figure 4.

~ 166486 The continuing operation of the press results in the ram 11 of the press being lifted again. The wedge-shaped member 19 is moved upwards, whereby the slot 23 clears the side walls 52, 53 of the tong hold, the release from within the cutout 23 being assisted by the springs 27 acting on the base plate 26 and thus on the plate 25 within the recess 23. The same movement results in that the downward pressure previously active at the workpiece holder 41 is no longer present whereby the plate 41 returns back to its upper position as shown in Figure 1 or Figuxe 4. During the upward movement, the followers 37, 38 pass over the peaks of the respective cam sections 17, 16, but this time the movement is no longer operative since the sides of the tong hold have already been formed.
Eventually, the ram 11 reaches its uppermost position of Figure 1, whereupon the billet 46 can be removed from the channel 43 and replaced by a new workpiece heated to a forging temperature, whereupon the whole operation can be repeated.
It will be appreciated that the described arrangement thus produces the tong hold by a single stroke of a press which firstly results in the formation of side walls of the tong hold which ~re produced by drawing the material, where-upon the top and bottom surfaces of the tong hold are formed by forging due to the impact of the respective parts. This provides the advantage of rel~tively small volume of the material being required for the formation of sufficiently long tong hold. The result is substantially reduced waste as the tong hold is eventually discarded, as is well known in the art.
Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate many modifications or additions to the device as shown. As mentioned above, the clamping device for the workpiece to firmly retain same in the groove 43 is not shown. The cam and follower mechanism as described can be replaced by many other equivalents of such mechanism. The position as shown in Figure 1, i.e. with the ram 11 moving up and down is most practical which is not to say that the device could not operate in a modified position, for instance in which the ~ 166486 -10- .

ram would move horizontally. Furthermore, the present invention does not necessarily include the press itself.
The above examples are but few indications of the fact that many embodiments of the present invention may exist departing to a greater or lesser degree from the described embodiment without departing from the present invention as set forth in the accompanying claims~

Claims (14)

The embodiments of the invention in which an ex-clusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A multiple action press tool for the shaping of one end of a steel billet heated to forging temperature, to form an extension at said one end integral with the rest of said billet and suitable as a tong hold or the like, said tool comprising a first part and a second part, said parts being adapted to become secured to one of a ram section and a table section, respectively, of a press, said first part comprising (a) workpiece support means having a longitudinal axis and adapted for holding a respective billet in a position wherein longitudinal axis of the billet is parallel with the longitudinal axis of the support means and extending generally perpendicularly to the direction of movement of the respective ram relative to the respective table (b) cutter blade means reciprocable perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the support means and adapted to produce cuts at mutually opposite sides of the billet near one end thereof;
(c) said second part comprising wedge means provided with a slot dividing the wedge means into two generally identical halves, each of said halves being adapted to enter one of said cuts and to penetrate same when a respective press is operated, to thus stretch a section of the billet between the respective cut and said one end.

2. A tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said slot forms a first forging surface extending transversely of that end of the wedge means which is remote from a tip section thereof.

3. A tool as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first forging surface is operatively associated with a workpiece ejecting device resiliently urged in a direction generally perpendicularly away from the first forging surface.

4. A tool as claimed in claim 2, wherein said second part comprises mounting means for securing the wedge means to a ram of a press such that a first, generally planar wedging surface of said wedge means is parallel with the direction of movement of the respective ram and transverse to the longitudinal axis of said workpiece support means, when the first and second parts are secured to a respective press, the other generally planar wedging surface being downwardly convergent relative to the first wedging surface towards a normally lowermost edge of the wedge means.

5. A tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein said workpiece support means is resiliently movable with respect to a base normally parallel with the direction of movement of the ram of a respective press.

6. A tool as claimed in claim 5, wherein said workpiece support means is operatively associated with spring means urging the workpiece support means in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the wedge means when the latter moves towards the respective workpiece.

7. A tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cutter blade means is a pair of blades each secured to one end of a reciprocating block slidable in a guide in a direction transverse of the longitudinal axis of said workpiece support means.

8. A tool as claimed in claim 7, wherein the opposite end of each of said blocks is provided with a follower for engaging a cam, to effect the movement of the respective block in a direction towards the other block.

9. A tool as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first part further includes an angle member disposed near one end of said workpiece support means and generally coextensive with the longitudinal axis thereof, said anvil member being so shaped and dimensioned that its width is only slightly less than that of the slot dividing said wedge means into two halves, whereby the wedge means can engage the anvil member to bring the said forging surface into operative relationship with said anvil member to thus forge a respective workpiece.

10. In a press including a stationary base and a ram movable along a line generally perpendicular to the base:
(a) a wedge-shaped member fixedly secured to the ram and including (i) a first generally planar wedging surface generally parallel with the direction of movement of the ram, and a second generally planar wedging surface convergent with the former and defining with same a transverse, normally generally horizontal lower edge;
(ii) a cutout defining a channel disposed centrally of said wedging surfaces, said channel having two generally planar, parallel side walls and a downwardly facing bottom wall disposed at a point remote from the lower edge and extending in a generally horizontal direction from the first wedging surface to the second wedging surface, each said side wall being coincident with a plane generally perpendicular to both said wedging surfaces:
(b) a support member secured to the base and including a workpiece holder, an anvil member and a pair of cutters, in which (i) said workpiece holder defines a longitudinal recess complementary with a workpiece;
(ii) resilient means are operatively associated with said holder to maintain same at a position above the base but to render same resiliently displaceable a predetermined distance in the direction towards the base;
(iii) said anvil member is adjacent to the holder at one end of the recess and is coextensive with the recess, the anvil being fixedly secured to the base and thus being relatively movable with respect to the holder, the anvil member being coextensive with or below the level of a bottom of the recess when the holder is at said position above the base, but being above the level of the bottom of the recess when the holder is at its lowermost position;

(iv) said pair of cutters including a pair of cutter blades each defining a generally vertical straight cutting edge, each located to one side of the anvil member and adjacent the holder;
(v) said cutters being movable from a first position wherein the spacing between the cutting edge is greater than the width of the wedge-shaped member, to a second position wherein the cutting edges are each disposed generally within the plane of coincidence with one of the side walls of said cutout.

11. A device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the width of the anvil member is only slightly less than the distance between the side walls of said cutout, whereby the wedge-shaped member can move downwardly relative to the anvil with the anvil disposed within the said cutout.

12. A device as claimed in claim 11, wherein said bottom wall of the cutout is operatively associated with a forging member resiliently movable towards and away from the bottom wall and generally parallel therewith.

13. A device as claimed in claim 12, wherein each cutter blade is removably secured to one horizontally sliding member operatively associated with drive means for selective horizontal displacement of the sliding member.

14. A device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the drive means includes a cam-and-follower mechanism operatively associated with and dependent on the movement of the ram relative to the base.