US100222A - Improved machine for making horseshoes - Google Patents

Description

UNrrED STATES 'PATENT @Firma JAMES fr. WALKER, on ALBANY, ,NEW YORK.

IMPROVED MACHINE FOR MAKING ll-lonsl-z'sHox-zs.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 100,222, dated February 22, 1870.

.To all wwm 71mg/ concern.-

'Be it known that I, JAMES T. yWALKER, of Albany, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Horseshoe-lvIachines; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

The nature of v my invention consists,- first, in the -construction of a horseshoe-machine so as to form the blanks the exact shape of the outside of the shoe', second, in the construction of ahorseshoemachine so as to keep the heels of the shoe outward while the dies operate to press the shoe 5 third, in the construction of the dies in a horseshoe-machine for pressing the shoes 5 and, fourth, in the construction and general arrangement of the entire machine, all of which will be hereinafter fully set forth.,

In-order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring tothe annexed drawings, in wliichf' Figure l is a longitudinalvertical section of my machine. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are views of the eccentrically-groovedwheels or cams which operate the mechanism for dropping the shoeblank into the bottom dies. Figs. 5, 6,A and 7 are views of the eccentrcally-grooved wheels or cams which operate the mechanism for bending the heels of the shoe-blank inward close to the tongue or former. Fig. 8 is a horizon tal section of my machine. Fig. 9 is a front view of the same. Fig. l() is a vertical section of one of the ybottom dies, taken through the line x x, Fig. l1.v Fig. l1 is a side view of one ofthe bottom dies. Fig. 12 is a bottom view of one of the upper dies, and Fig. 13 is avertical section ofthe same,taken through line y y. -A represents the bed of my machine, at the front end of which are two standards, B B, supporting at their upper ends, in suitable journal-boxes, a shaft, C. On the shaft C is placed a cam, D, which operates the plunger E, moving vertically up and down in a crosshead, G, securedbetween the two standards B B; Y

v'At the upper end of the plunger E, in suitable bearings, is placed a roller, H, against which the cam D bears to press the plunger downward. This roller is placed slightly back of the center of the shaft C, upon which the cam D is secured,'for the reason that if it was directly beneath the center of "said shaft the cam would, when pressing upon 'the roller, cause the upper end of the plunger to be drawn toward the front, throwing thelower end rearward, and consequently the dies would not fit, as the motion of the plunger would not be perfectly perpendicular. This could not be obviated by making the cross-head G so tight as to prevent any inclination of the plunger, be-

cause I have found by practicalI experience that the pressure necessary to be exerted upon the'plunger to press the shoes is so strong that this forward action of the cam upon the upper end of the plunger will break the cross-head, it 4does not matter how strong it is made, un= less there is room to allow the plunger to in; oline; but if the plunger was allowed to incline, the top die, I, secured to the lower end of the plunger,would not come down level on. the bottom dies. All these difficulties are entirely overcome by placing the roller H a shortv dis- .tance back of the center, as then the tendency of the cam 'will be to throw the upper end of the 'plunger backward; but the friction counterbalances this tendency', and th-us the plun'; ger is moved with perfect ease perpendicu= larlythrough the cross-head. On each side of the plunger E, on' top of the cross-head G,

again as soon as the cam D ceases to exert the downward pressure upon the' same.

Upon veach side of the cam D, on the shaft C, is placed a wheel, K, the outer periphery of which is grooved in the following manner: For one-half the circumference it 'is grooved near the outer edge, and'for the othermhalf near the inner edge, the two grooves a and c being connected at their ends by means of inclined passages b b', the passage b being'of the same depth as the grooves, while the pas sage bis provided with projecting anges, and so constructed that' its bottom is on the same curve as the circumference of the wheel. The ends of the passage b are inclined, so 'as to allow a pin moving inthe grooves a a', vas will be hereinafter described, to slide freely up and down through said passage from one groove to the other. f

In suitable bearings. upon the front side of is a spring,'J, for throwing thep'lungerV up the cross-head G, and on each side of the plunger, is a vertical rod, L, held upward by means of a spring, c, as shown in Figs. 1 and 9. Each of these rodsis at its upper end provided with a handle or lever, M, having a pin, d, placed in the groove upon the periphery of the wheel K, and held there by the spring c, as before mentioned. The lower ends of the rods L L are provided with feet N N, the use and operation of which will be hereinafter described.

At the rear end of the bed A, in suitable journal-boxes, is placed a shaft, O, provided with a cam, l?, which operates the horizontal plunger R, moving in guides upon the bed A. At the front end of the plunger B is secured the tongue S for bending the shoeblank. This plunger and tongue are moved back as soon as the cani ceases to operate by means of the spring c, as seen in Fig. l.

On each side of the cam l?, upon the shaft O, is placed a wheel, T, grooved upon its peripheryin the following manner: For one-half the circumferen ce the groove f is at or near theA center, while for the other half the circumference there is a groove, f', near the inner edge of the wheel. The two grooves ff are connected by means of two passages, g and g', the passage r/ being straight, as shown in Fig. 7, while the passage g is curved, as shown in Fig. 6, coming near the outer edge of the wheel.

Upon the bed A, at each side of the plunger R, is pivoted a lever, V, the rear ends of which extend over and rest upon the wheels T T, and are provided with a pin, 71, moving in the grooves on the periphery of said Wheels. The

- `front ends of the levers V V extend to near the heel of the bottom die, and are on their under sides provided with guides or hooks t, turnedtoward the rear, as shown in Fig. l. These hooks, by their construction, form a rest for the bottom and forward side ofthe rod on its passage inv the machine from the furnace, and prevent the twisting or springing of the rod as the former acts upon it. On top of the guide, through which the horizontal plunger R passes, are ears or projecjections, between which a lever, NV, is pivoted, t-he rear end of said lever being ofthe shape shown in Fig. l, so as to be operated upon by means of a camshaped projection, X, on the shaft O, between the cam P and one of the wheels T. The front end of the lever XV is provided with a metal cross-bar or foot, ou, resting under the rear edge of the upper die when the lever is not in contact with the cam X. The front end of said lever is held up in this position either by the excess in weight of its rear end or by a spring, k, attached to its rear end, as shown in Fig. 1.

The heated iron bar from which the shoes are` to be pressed is introduced through a suitable aperture and groove in the side 0f the machine until it rests in the hooks i i 0f the levers V V, when it is cut off by a knife 011 cutter the desired length. I have not deemed it necessary to represent nor describe this cutting device, as it is avery common mechanism. After the blank has been cut,and the shafts C and O revolving in opposite directions, the cam P moves the plunger lt and tongue S forward, bending the blank, the ends ofthe blank being held by the hooks i t'. Just before the tongue S bends the blank the feet N N,on the rods L L,have been turned inward by the pins el d, passing through the passages b b into the grooves c a on the wheels K K, and said feet are in such a position that the tongue Swith the shoe-blank, will pass directly under the same, or rather` the blank alone will. come directly underthe feet. The plunger R, with its tongue S, having been moved forward the required distance to bend the blank, the front ends of the levers V V are moved inward by means ofthe pins h 7L moving through the curved passages g g on the wheels T T. This inward movement of the levers VV is only for an instant, but sufficient to bend the ends of 'the shoe-blank inward along the sides ofthe tongue S, forming the heel of the shoe. The pinsh IL passing directly into the grooves f f the front ends of the levers V V are moved outward sufficiently to clear the dies. At the saine time the pins d d, passing through the passages Z/ b on the wheels K K, cause the feet N N to descend, carrying with them the shoeblank from the tongue Sand depositing it int-o the lower dies, y y, the spring e at the same time carrying the plunger R, with the tongue, backward. As soon as the feet N N have cleared the blank from the tongue and deposited it in the bottom dies they move out ward by the pins d d passing into the outer grooves, c a, after completing the passages b' b. The cam D now commences to operate upon the roller H, forcing the plunger E,with the top die, I, down upon the blank in the lower or bottom dies. The top die, I, in its motion downward, carries witlrit the front end of the lever W, it being remembered that the foot m on said lever Vis directly under the rear edge of the side. The frontend of the lever W describing a circle, it will be understood that the foot m, at the time when the upper die is near the blank, has moved ont of the way of the die, and is held down upon the ends of the blank in the bottom dies by the rear end of the lever resting upon the projection X of the wheel O. Vhen the upper die moves up ward again, by means of the springs .T J, the foot m remains upon the heel of the shoe, as the entire projection X has not yet passed the rear end of the lever NV, and thus the shoe will be prevented from adhering to and being carried up by the upper die. \Vhen the up* per die has returned to its first position, the pins d d pass through the passages b b into the inner grooves, a a', which throws the feet N N i inward again to their original position, and as soon as the projection X has cleared the rear end of the lever W', throwing the foot m up again, the hooks 'i fi are thrown into their proper position to receive the next blank by the pins h h passing through the passages g g into the I usual die with perpendicular walls, if I so degrooves fj'.

The bottom dies, YY, areopened and closed by any suitable mechanism, and'I have not deemed it necessary to represent or describe the same, as I may employ for that purpose the mechanism described in the patent to J a- I cob Zepf, dated November 10, 1868, said pat! ent being assigned to and owned by me. Still, I do not mean to confine myself to the mechanism therein described, as it may be aecomplished in various ways.

Vhenl the upper die has pressed the shoe and moves upward again, the bottom dies separate and allow the completed shoe to fall down l through an aperture in the frame or bed A; and

the dies, striking the shoe and loosening it at once from the die, so as to allow it to drop down.

A horseshoe should invariably be thinner at the toe than at the heel, and to press the blank so as to produce this incline one of thev dies must be inclined. If the bottom die is level and the top die inclined, there is no machinery that could withstand the pressurebelts, pulleys, wheels,'and, in fact, everything, would break; but if the incline is in the bottom dies and the top die is made to come down level where it is to press the blank, then the iron will have a chance to spread inward and downward on the incline on which it is placed, and consequently there will be not the slightest danger of any injury to the machinery. For this reason I form the sides, or rather the bottom, of the lower dies, Y Y, with an incline from the'toe o t0 the heel p, as shown in Fig. ll. Vhen, now, the top die, I, comes down upon the blank, it strikes the blank at the toe first-that is, the main portion of the die does-and spreads the iron inwardto the frog of the upper die, forming the inner edge of the shoe.

It will be observed that by my machine the blank is formed at rst the exact shape of the outside of the shoe, and then the iron, by pressing, spreads inward the entire length of the shoe, while in all other horseshoe-machines the iron has been spread, by rolling, inward from the toe and outward from the heel and rear portion of the shoe.

Along the sides of the bottom dies, Y Y, are beveled grooves o', as shown in Fig. 10. The blank, when first placed in the dies, does, of course, not fill up these grooves, but occupies a perpendicular line drawn from the top of the bevel to bottom of die. Vhen the creasers s s in the top die strike the blank, they force the iron into this bevel, forming the incline on the outside of the shoe usually found in handmade shoes, but never in machine-made. l

I do not wish to confine myself to the use of the die above described, which forms a bevel on the outer edge of the shoe, as I may use the sire it. The creasers s s, in forcing the iron into this bevel, have a tendency to draw the heels of the blank inward, and to prevent this I provide the frog of the upper die with a projection, t, which iits in the space between the ends of the blank an d prevents them from con tracting.

The upper die, I, is so formed that when l it descends the projection will first come in between the ends of the blank; then the creasers strike the blank and force the iron into the groove r, and lastly the main portion ofthe die comes down, as above described, and presses the shoe.

The tongue S and dies I and y y can be readily exchanged for others of different size, and then other portions of the machine-such as the feet N N and m and pins d d and h h-must be adjusted to suit.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine for making horseshoes, constructing and arranging the male or movable die with its operative surface at right angles to the line of motion imparted to it, and the female or stationary die with its operative surface inclined to said line of motion, the inclination being equal to the difference between the thickness of the toe and heel of the shoe, substantially as described.

2. In combination with the male and female dies constructed and arranged as above claimed, the projection t, or its equivalent, for holding the heel of the blank apart, and for preventing contraction while it is being pressed into shape, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a horseshoe-making machine, of a reciprocating, former of such shape as will, by bending the bar around it, give to the external edge of the blank the eX- act shape of the iinished shoe, mechanism to strip the blank off the former, mechanism to withdraw the former out of the path of the male die, a vertically-reciprocating male die, and laterally-moving female dies made in two parts, all constructed and operated to form a pressed horseshoe, as set forth.

4. In a machine for making horseshoes, constructing the shoe-forming dies, as herein described, so that the shoe is beveled on its outer edge as it is being pressed into shape.

5. The combination of the eccentrically camgrooved wheels K, levers M, rods L, and feet N, all substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. Arranging the friction-roller II on the head of the plunger E in a plane parallel to but on one side of that which passes through the center or axis of the shaft C, for the purposes set forth.

7. In combinanation withrthe former S, the elongated bending-levers V V, provided with hooks i 'i at their front ends, on their ,'und'er sides, pivoted to the bed of the machine and operated through the medium of the cams rI T for the purpose of guiding and preventing` the twisting or springing of the iron bar before the blank is formed, and for knocking inward the heel of the blank after it is formed, substantially as set forth.

8; The'eombination of the foot or clearer m with mechanism for operating the same, substantially as described, and with the male die I, for the purposes set forth.

9. The combination of the laterally-moving female dies y y, provided with an incline7 o p, :and bevel T, with the vertically-reeiproeating male die I, With its creasers s and projection t, all operating substantially as setviorth.

JAMES fr. WALKER.

Vitnesses:

ARTHUR N. MARR, C. L. EVERT.

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