1,047,175. Finishing. CLAIR MANUFACTURING CO. Inc. Aug. 13, 1963 [Feb. 13, 1963], No. 31877/63. Heading B3D. Finishing apparatus suitable to clean, rough, delustre, brush, glaze, buff or otherwise finish sheet, plate, strip, coil or any other type stock pieces includes a base, a spindle rotatably carried upon the base and mounting a finishing roll, a workpiece support table disposed beneath the roll, pneumatic piston-cylinder means providing vertical support for the table and operable to vertically bias and displace the latter, an endless conveyer having a portion resting upon and sliding over the top surface of the table, power means driving the finishing roll and the conveyer, workpiece hold-down means including an idler roller disposed above the conveyer transversely thereof and spring means resiliently operable to maintain a substantially uniform prescribed hold-down pressure on the roller. A finishing roll 20 is mounted on and driven by a spindle 28 having secured to its ends the face plates 26, 30 of flexible couplings, the other face plates 24, 32 of which are secured to shafts 17, 18 rotatable, but fixed against axial displacement, in bearing blocks 15, 16 mounted on pedestals 12, 14 supported by a base 10. The shaft 18 is driven through V-belts 36 by a motor. The roll 20 is reciprocated axially by a rod 40 extending through the shaft 18 and having one end connected by a pin 42 to the spindle 28 and its other end connected to a piston 46 in a cylinder 44 carried by the shaft 18. Compressed air passages in the cylinder connect through a rotary union 50 with conduits 52, 54 leading to a valve 55. A rod 56 extending through the shaft 17 has one end connected by a pin 57 to the spindle 28 so as to reciprocate therewith; its other end has an insulating ring 58 and a conducting ring 60 and is rotatable and axially slidable in a bearing block 62 into which extend paired electrical contact brushes 64, 66 whereby the conductor ring 60 alternately connects the brushes 64 and the brushes 66, so alternately energizing solenoids A, B which actuate the valve 55 to reverse the piston 46. A table comprises a top plate 70 supported by side members 72. Brackets 74 at one end mount a drive pulley shaft 76 and screw thread adjustable arms 78 at the other end mount an idler pulley shaft 79. An endless conveyer belt 80 is trained round the pulleys with its upper run sliding on the top surface of the plate 70. The shaft 76 is belt driven by a motor 84. The table is supported by a pneumatic jack 90. A screw-threaded post 92 extending downwardly from the bottom of the jack cylinder engages a nut-bearing 94 mounted on the base 10 and rotatable through worm gearing by a hand wheel 96 to adjust the jack vertically. The jack piston rod 97 is connected to a cross bar 98 fixed by angles 99 to the side members 72. The table is stabilized throughout the range of its vertical adjustment by telescopic bearing units 100, 100. The pneumatic jack 90 is controlled by a treadle valve 91, and urges the workpiece 101 against the roll 20 with a substantially uniform pressure determined by the initial vertical adjustment of the jack. Hold-down rolls 104, 106 are carried by idler spindles 107, 108 journalled at their ends in spherical bearing blocks 110 carried within the upper ends of struts 112. The latter are telescoped into sleeves 114 and include shoulders 116 biased to bottomed positions by springs 118. The sleeves 114 are vertically adjustable in support blocks 120 fixed by stirrup plates 122 to the side members 72. A workpiece placed on the top run of the conveyer belt 80 is carried under the finishing roll in a single pass, repeated unidirectional passes or reciprocated back and forth. In a modified set-up a platen 130 is mounted on the table below the finishing roll 20 and above the top run of the conveyer belt 80. The rolls 104, 106 contact the belt and are frictionally rotated thereby. The platen is vertically dimensioned so that its top surface is substantially level with the top levels of the rolls 104, 106 so that a workpiece 132 may be fed to the finishing roll through the gap between the roll and the platen. The platen is vertically adjusted by shims to the proper distance from the finishing roll according to the thickness of the workpiece. The platen may be water cooled. Spring-loaded hold-down rolls 134, 136 are provided above the rolls 104, 106. Finished workpieces fall on to the conveyer belt 80 and are returned to the workman for a further pass or for unloading.