IL32385A - Top lock mechanism for presses - Google Patents

Description

TOP LOCK FOR PRESSES This Invention relates to tie art presses to a lock assembly a knuckle joint Knuckle joint presses are designed for which requires powerfu pressure close to the bottom sizing and swaging examples of operations in which knuckle join presses are A typical construction o a knuckle press is illustrated in patent As there the slide the press reciprocated by a pair of toggle links or One toggle o knuokle is connected to the slide which reciprocates i the frame while the other toggle is pivotally connected to a block is in engagement with the press e two as a conventional toggle pivotally connected at their adjacent ends with a connecting rod driven by the oranksha causing the toggles either to be which causes the slide to move its stroke to bottom or wherein the slide is retracted its top of the stroke It is conventional in knuckle joint presses to emplo ah wedge which interposed between the crown and together with the attached describes but preferred embodiment of the Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numeral indicate like parts in the various Figure 1 is a front elevation view of a press incorporatin the features of the Figure 2 is a fragmentary elevation view showing a portion of the crown and the top lock Figure 3 is a plan view of the crown and the top lock Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the top lock Figure 5 is a side elevation view of the view of Figure Figure 6 is a plan view of the portion shown in Figure 5 Figure 7 illustrates in plan view the ratchet drive the top lock Figure 8 is a side elevation view of the ratchet mechanism of Figure Referring now to Figure 1 there is illustrated a knuckle joint press in which the invention is As is ventional in the construction of such there is provided a bed 10 which supports vertical uprights A crown 14 is supported on the of the uprights Heavy tie not extend through the crown and uprights at the four corners of the machine tie rod nuts 16 engaging the rods and serving to hold the of the press frame in an assembled A slide supported ways 20 for reciprocating in the press The reciprocation of the slide 18 is controlled by a motor driven crankshaft and a pair toggles or knuckle joints in a manner which is in press The upper toggle link or knuckle is connected to a block 22 which is slidably supported by appropriate block not in the of the press Spring are connected at one to the 22 with the spring rods extending through appropriate apertures in the 14 and upwardly the Springs 26 encircle a portion each sprin rod 24 with the springs being bottomed in an upwardly opening aperture 28 in the The other end of the spring is compressed by lock plate assembly indicated generally by the reference numeral It will be apparent that with this the springs tend to bias the lock and thus the spring rods which are secured to the plate by nuts in an upward This same biasing carries with it the block 22 and the slide to which the block is connected through the knuckle To adjust the position of the block and the slide in the there is provided a wedge adjusting indicated generally by the reference numeral This wedge adjusting mechanism comprises a wedge 42 which has an inclined surface 44 on the lower surface thereof and a planar surface 46 on the uppe The planar surface 46 is to enga e correspondin planar surface 48 formed on the lower surface of the crown with the inclined surface 44 being adapted to engage a corresponding inclined surface on the block A wedge nut 50 is carried the wedge member 42 and is adapted to cooperate a wedge right to adjustment of wedge member adjusting screw by drive chain 84 to the sprocket 72 and thence jack screw It is contemplated that the adjusting shaft 92 will be driven by a manually operated ratchet This ratchet is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 and is designated generally by the reference numeral The ratchet mechanism comprises a ratchet lever 102 and a plate adapted to be received over end of the shaft A ratchet 104 is supported between the lever and plate 106 with the being adapted to be connected to the end of shaft A pawl 108 is pivotably supported on shaft 110 between plate 106 and the lever 102 with the pawl being adapted to cooperate with the teeth 104a on the A fulcrum pin 112 extends between the cover plate 106 the lever 102 and pivotably supports a plunger housing The plunger housing includes a plunger 116 and a spring 118 biasing the end of the plunger 116 into engagement with the pawl A trip pin 120 extends wardly of the cover plate 106 and is operative to rotate the housing 114 about the fulcrum 112 and thereby reverse the tion of operation of the The ratchet lever 102 includes a handle portion 122 in which there is formed an aperture A rod or other extension may be received in the aperture 124 and thereby provides an elongated handle for actuating the ratchet mechanism and the top lock The ratchet mechanism described operates in the following Assuming parts to be in the illustrated in Figure it is apparent that one of the pawl is in engagement with tooth 104a of the ratchet wheel 104 and will operative to drive the ratchet wheel and the shaf 92 in a counterclockwise when the lever 102 is rotated that The ratcheting affect is achieved by rotating the lever in the direction thereby driving the ratchet wheel through a predetermined the direction of rotation of the ratchet lever 102 is reversed and as the lever moves the ratchet wheel 10 remains tionary due to the disengagement of tooth 108a and tooth The clockwise movement of the lever causes the on wheel 104 to engage surface 108c on the pawl 108 and thereby pivot the pawl to a position wherein both teeth on the pawl are radially spaced from the ratchet This pivoting or ratcheting movement of the pawl is accommodated by displacing the plunger 116 against the bias of the spring when the clockwise rotation of the lever is the ratcheting of the tooth the teeth 104a of the ratchet wheel will and the spring 118 will cause the plunger to pivot the pawl to its driving position as illustrated in Figure Thereafter the lever is moved again in the clockwise direction and further rotation is imparted to the adjusting shaft In the event that it is desired to rotate the shaft 92 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure the trip pin 120 is actuated pivot the housing 114 about the fulcrum pin As the housing is the plunger 116 is against the spring 118 until it has passed beyond the of the shaft the under the bias of the spring will exert a biasing force on the pawl in a direction which tends to pivot the pawl counterclockwise about the 110 and thereby bring the tooth 108b of the pawl into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet Correspondingly the tooth 108a will be from engagement with ratchet movement of the ratchet wheel in a clockwise tion as viewed in Figure will cause the pawl to drive the ratchet wheel in the clockwise It is apparent that as the ratchet wheel rot so also the adjustment shaft is rotated as stated mits rotation to the sprocket It is to be noted in this regard that the rotation of the is around the center of the jack screw 66 and there is no off center loading to which either the sprocket or the drive mechanism may be any possibility of binding the key interconnecting the sprocket with the jack screw is eliminated and thus a free sliding motion vertically of the jack screw relative to the sprocket is the flexible drive chain 8 isolates the ratchet drive system from any binding action that may occur in the top lock An added advantage of this arrangement that the ratchet drive permits the operator to apply more torque than was fore possible with conventional chain by simply inserting a rod of greater length in the ratchet handle the operator can increase the torque which he applies in adjusting the top lock once the top lock has been the ratchet handle can be removed thereby eliminating an element which might otherwise be in the of the press The end shaft 92 is positioned on the frame adjacent the bed of the press so it is convenient to the operator when adjustments are to be It is thus apparent that an improved top lock assembly and drive mechanism therefore has been Modifications and alterations in this invention will suggest themselves to those having ordinary skill in the art and it is intended that insufficientOCRQuality

Claims (1)

1. 32385/2 Claimst 1 * A press having a frame including a crown* a s^ide reoiprocably mounted in said frame, a block slidably supported in said. frame, toggle joint means interconnecting said "block and slide, passages through said crown with rods extending through said passages and secured to said block* a looking plate above said crown and connected to said rods with spring means normally biasing said looking plate and rods in an upward direction* and a top look assembly carried by said locking plate for looking said plate against downward movement relative to said frame* said top look assembly including a jack screw threadedly supported' on said locking plate for engaging the top of said crown* drive means coupled to said jack screw for rotation therewith while permitting longitudinal movement o said jack screw relative to said drive means* and ratchet means for incrementally rotating said drive means. 2* A press according to claim 1 wherein said drive means comprises a sprocket* and flexible drive transmitting means Interconnecting said ratchet means with said sprocket* 3· A press according to claims 1 or 2 wherein said ratchet means comprises elongated adjusting means rotatably supported on said press* k» A press according to claim 3 wherein said shaft means comprises a first shaft rotatably support ed on said locking plate, a second shaft rotatably supported On said frame bf said press* and universal 32385/2 5· A press according to any one of claims 2 to V wherein said threaded support for said jack screw"comprises a jack screw housing with said jack screw being threadedly received therein said drive means sprocket toeing rotatably supported on said said housing, 6. A press according to claim 5 wherein cap means: are secured to said jack screw* and means biasing said drive means sprocket in a di ection away from said cap means and into engagement wit said housing. ' 7· A press according to an one of the preceding claims wherein said ratchet mechanism is located adjacent the bed of the press. 8. A press substantially as herein described with reference o and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Att oants