GB900940A - Article polishing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

900,940. Polishing. WASHINGTON ALUMINUM CO. Inc. Dec. 12, 1960, No. 42725/60. Class 60. A machine for polishing articles, such as wire, rods or the like, comprises an annularshaped housing, an internally-toothed ring gear coaxially positioned in said housing, ballbearings positioned in the opposite ends of said housing and arranged with said ring gear therebetween, a hollow drive shaft extending through said housing and bearings, a pulley mounted in one of said bearings and secured to said drive-shaft for rotation therewith, the other end of said housing being closed by a cap structure located between the other bearing and said hollow drive shaft, said cap structure and pulley being secured together by said driveshaft, a pair of diametrically opposed shafts extending through said cap and pulley, means for mechanically coupling each of said pair of shafts to said ring gear to rotate in orbital motion with respect to said ring gear, and a brush assembly or equivalent at at least one of the corresponding ends of each of said pair of shafts and arrange to engage an article passed through said hollow shaft for brushing and polishing thereof. A housing 10, Fig. 2, has at its ends ballbearings 14 in which rotate a pulley 16 and a cap 18, both axially bored to receive a hollow shaft 20 carrying nuts 22 at its ends. Pulley 16 and cap 18 have axial bores for two shafts 24, each shaft 24 being mounted in the pulley 16 by ball-bearings 30, 30 and in the cap 18 by ball-bearing 28. Each shaft 24 has threaded ends 34 to receive internally-threaded heads 38 of short shafts 36. Brush assemblies 40 each comprise several brush wheels 42 secured on a thimble 44 by a nut 46, the thimble being secured on one of the shafts 36 by a nut 48. The pulley 16 is driven by a belt from a constant speed or variable speed motor; each shaft 24 has a gear 26 meshing with a ring gear 12 in the housing 10. The wire or rod 50 is fed through the hollow shaft 20 from an electrolytic bath after being coated therein and is coiled on a reel. The brush assemblies on the upstream side of the machine may be of different coarseness from those on the downstream side. Liners 64 may be provided at the ends of the hollow shaft 20. In a modification, Fig. 4, brush wheels 42 are secured on a longitudinally serrated bushing 52 by upsetting the metal; the bushing has a square bore and is secured by a cotter-pin 60 on a square shaft 56 having an internallythreaded head 58 for attachment to the threaded end 34 of a shaft 24. In order to develop longer use of polishing brushes, an adjustable catholay platen may be substituted for one brush assembly opposing the other brush assembly and pressing the material being polished against the other brushes.