GB603177A - Improvements in apparatus for pressing rubber articles - Google Patents

Abstract

603,177. Making rubber articles. UNITED STATES RUBBER CO. July 31, 1946, No. 22793.. Convention date, Oct., 10, 1945. [Classes 17(i) and 141] [Also in Group V] One or more carriages, each provided with means for applying pressure to the seams of component parts of rubber footwear as these are assembled on lasts carried by a conveyer are moved a short distance in time relation to the conveyer so as to press the seams and then to be returned ready to operate on the succeeding shoe assembly on the conveyer. Gloves and other rubber articles may also be made in this manner. Fig. 1 shows the general arrangement of conveyer 12 with the direction of motion indicated by arrows, and Fig. 5 shows a sectional view on line 5-5, Fig. 1. Shoe parts are assembled on lasts L removably mounted on pivoted jacks J supported on arms 14 rigidly secured to trucks 15 attached to the chain of the conveyer 12. Rollers 16 on the trucks engage supporting bars 17, supported on legs 11. Three stations equipped with means to exert pressure on different portions of the shoe are shown in Fig. 1 spaced along the assembly table 10. At the first, strong yielding pressure is applied to the opposite sides; at the second, the front and back are pressed; and at the third (shown in Fig. 5,) pressure is applied upon the sole and heel to bond them to the upper. The pressing apparatus is in each case mounted on a travelling carriage 20 wheels 21 of which rest on spaced rails 22 on a frame. Upper rails 25 prevent the carriage lifting. Compressed air may be supplied through a four-way valve 35 to opposite sides of a piston 29 by pipes 27, 28 first'to move the carriage forwards at a speed slightly in excess of that of the chain 12 so as to cause a dog 30 pivoted on a support 31 projecting downwards from the carriage to abut against the rear face of a jack-supporters arm 14 to synchronize the travel of carriage and shoe. A weight 33 normally holds the upper end of dog 30 against a stop 34 on support 31, and, during return travel of the carriage, the dog will tilt and pass over the next advancing arm 14. The supply of compressed air to the opposite ends of the cylinder 24 is timed in relation to the conveyer movement by a rocking lever 39 secured to the stem of the valve 35 and positioned to hang down in the path of the arms 14, so that, as the jack J carried thereby advances, it strikes the lever and holds it elevated until the arm travels beyond reach of the lever, which then drops by gravity to reverse the operation of the valve 35. Downward movement of the arm 39 is arrested by a stop. Pressure is applied to the pressure means on each carriage by fluid-pressure controlled through a valve stem 58 of a valve 57 on the carriage 20 and operated by a weighted lever 59 actuated by the back and forth movement of the carriage. After the assembly operations are completed, the last, with the shoe, thereon, is removed from the conveyer and placed in a vulcanizer.