US1043586A - Machine for driving spokes. - Google Patents

Description

\ L. S. GARMAN.

' MACHINE FOR DRIVING SPOKES.

APPLICATION TILED 0OT.16, 1911. 7 1,043,586. Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

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attozmq COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH co L. s. GARMAN. MACHINE FOR DRIVING SPOKES.

1,043,586. APPLIOATION FILED OUT. 16, 1911. 5

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH Co, WASHINGTON. D. c.

LEVI S. GAR-MAN, F OXFORD, NORTH CAROLINA.

MACHINE FOR DRIVING SPOKES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

Application filed October 16, 1.911. Serial No. 654,914.

I which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for driving spokes, and its object is to provide a machine for driving wheel spokes into the wheel hubs, whereby the operation may be very expeditiously performed, and the spokes may be driven more firmly than is usually accomplished by hand driving.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a support for a wheel hub which support may be suitably adjusted to accommodate hubs of different diameters and lengths and there is also provided a driving member adapted to deliver a succession of blows to the end of a placed standard 1 is closed in on all sldes by suitspoke, the hub support and hammer or driving means being related to accommodate spokes of different lengths and to drive the spokes whether the wheel be of the dished type or not. The whole structure is a unitary structure with the moving parts mounted upon a frame and provided with appropriate adjustments, while the whole structure is so arranged that it may be readily controlled by a single operator.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that while the drawings show a practical embodiment of the invention the latter is susceptible of other practical embodiments varying in details of construction from the showing of the drawings and, therefore, the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the parts illus trated, but may be changed or modified so long as the salient features of the invention are retained.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is an elevation of the machine as viewed from the I standpoint of the operator. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine as "viewed from the right hand side of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical section in a plane cutting the longitudinal axis of the driving shaft, with parts in elevation and including the hammer or driving end only of the machine, the parts being drawn on a larger scale than in the preceding figures. Fig. 5 is a cross section of the structure shown in Fig. 4 in aplane cutting the longitudinal axis of the driving shaft, some parts being shown in elevation. Fig. 6 is an elevation with some parts in section of the structure shown in Fig. 4 as viewed from the right hand side of said figure. Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a section in a plane similar to Fig. 4 but including the hub support- 3 ing portion of the structure to the exclusion of the parts shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a frame 1 in the form of a column or standaid of hollow construction mounted upon a base 2 of substantially tripod form, and also of hollow construction with an intermediate extension 3 designed to receive certain mechanism to be referred to.

The main portion of the column or able walls, and this column or standard may be in the main of rectangular cross section, as best indicated in Fig. 3. At the upper fend the front and rear walls of the column are omitted for an appropriate distance for the passage and guiding of certain mechanism, while what may be termed the front of the column, because toward the operator, on opposite sides of the omitted portion is provided" with undercut guide plates or strips 4 designed to engage in corresponding undercut grooves 5 in the hollow block 6, which latter has its front wall omitted and is pro- ,vided with guide plates 7 on opposite sides of the omitted portion in overriding relation to form guides for an elongated slide 8 in the form of a block of appropriate shape having on one side an offset tubular member 9 extending lengthwise of the block 8, and at the. ends closed by screw plugs 10 each with a passage therethrough constituting a bearing for a rod 11. This rod has at an intermediate point between the plugs 10 a collar 12 either formed on or made fast to the rod, and between this collar and the corresponding plugs 10 there are provided two springs 13, 14, respectively, each abut ting against a washer 15 interposed between the corresponding end of the spring and the plug 10. The rod 11 extends, when in operation, in a substantially vertical direction with the upper end passing through the upper plug 10 for an appropriate distance to permit reciprocation of the rod, while the lower end of the rod extends through the lower plug 10 for an appropriate distance and is socketed to receive the stem 16 of a hammer head or block 17, a thumb or set screw 18 engaging the stem 16 to hold the head 17 in place but permitting the ready removal of the latter at will.

The slide 8 is formed at an intermediate point with a boss or enlargement 19 extending through the outer open end of the hollow block 6 to the interior thereof and terminating in close relation to a boss 20 extending forwardly from the rear inner wall of the block 6 toward the boss 19. The block 6 has on what may be termed the rear face an extension 21 of a length to pass through the rear open portion of the upper end of the standard 1, and this extension 21, together with the boss 20, constitutes a bearing for a shaft 22, the latter having a head 23 counter-sunk into the boss 20 flush with the outer surface thereof and carrying an eccentrically disposed wrist pin 24 engaging in an appropriate passage in a block 25 mounted in an elongated recess 26 in the boss 19, the structure being such that on the rotation of the shaft 20 the wrist pin will reciprocate the slide 25 and transmit the rotary motion of the pin 24 into a reciprocatory motion on the slide 8. The extension 21 is formed with an internal chamber 26 rendered accessible by a suitable passage 27 through the upper wall thereof, and this chamber is traversed by the shaft 22 and constitutes a receptacle for lubricant, whereby the shaft 22 is appropriately lubricated where it traverses the bearings in the extension 21 and boss 20.

The shaft 22 is of a length to project for a considerable distance beyond the rear end of the extension 21 and is held against longitudinal movement in its bearings by a hub 28 formed on a bevel friction wheel 29 carried by the shaft 22 and held thereto by a set screw 30. The friction wheel has seated in its bevel surface a ring 31 of appropriate friction material, such, for instance, as leather or vulcanized fiber or wood or the like.

Mounted on the shaft 22 to the rear of the friction wheel 29 is a pulley 32 with an interior tapered recess 33 in one face designed to engage the taper friction member 31 when the pulley 32 is moved in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the shaft 22, the said pulley being provided with a hub 34 mounted on the shaft 22 in a manner to permit the movement of the pulley lengthwise of the shaft. The pulley is provided with a belt engaging face 35 designed to receive a power belt 36 coming from any suitable source of power, and when the machine is in operation the pulley 32 is constantly driven.

That portion of the hub 34 of the pulley 32 remote from the friction wheel 29 is reduced in diameter, as indicated at 37, and to this reduced portion there is applied a plate 38 held to the hub by screws 39 or otherwise so that the reduced portion of the hub and the plate 38 coact to provide an annular groove, in which there is mounted a ring 40 having a radial offset or arm 41 at one side which at the end carries a pin 42 having mounted thereon one end of an arm 43, the other end of which carries a roller 44 designed to bear against one run of the belt 36 and thereby act as a belt tightener through the action of gravity. Movement of the pulley 32 away from the friction wheel 29 is limited by a set collar 38 on the shaft 22.

Opposite sides of the ring 40 are entered by pins 45 mounted in the respective arms of a yoke 46, which in turn is carried by a rod 47 in turn passing through an elongated guide 48 mounted on one end of a shaft 49 having journal bearings in a bracket 50 made fast to a corresponding portion of the column 1. The other end of the shaft 49 has fast thereto a collar 51 having an extension 52, see Figs. 1 and 2, which extension carries an eye 53 pivoted thereto, and this eye is traversed by a rod 54 which where traversing the eye is threaded, as indicated at 55, to receive nuts on opposite sides of the eye for adjustment. The rod 54 is extended to near the base of the column where it is connected by a pivot pin 57 to a foot lever 58 at a point between the ends of the latter, and the said foot lever is mounted on a pivot 59 projecting from the column 1 close to the base thereof. This foot lever is provided with a treadle portion 60 within convenient reach of the foot of an operator, so that the operator by pressing the treadle will rock the shaft 49 because of the extension or arm 52. The rocking of the shaft will be participated in by the rod 47 in a direction to move the inner friction wall of the pulley 32 into engagement with the friction ring 31, whereby the rotative move ment of the pulley 32 will then be imparted to the shaft 22 and by the wrist pin 24 this motion will impart reciprocatory motion to the slide 8. Such reciprocatory motion will be participated in by the rod 11 and hammer head 17, the springs 13 and 14, which normally act as equalizing springs, com-- pressing and expanding to cause the delivery of a sharp, though elastic blow by the hammer 17 to parts to be described.

The block 6 has fast to one side a gear rack 61 with which there is in. mesh a pinion 62 on one end of the hub 63 of a hand wheel 64 mounted on a pin 65 carried. by an appropriate portion of the upper end of the column 1. The outer end of the pin 65 is threaded, as indicated at 66, and there receives a nut 67 provided with a manipulating pin 68 substantially radial to the nut for the ready tightening and loosening of the nut to bind the hub of the hand wheel 64 against movement when such is desired. lVhen the nut 67 is loosened the hand wheel may be manipulated to cause the pinion 62 to move the rack 61 and with it the block 6 up or down along the column 1 and when the desired position has been reached the parts may be locked in such position by tightening the nut 67 to clamp the hand wheel in place.

To counter-balance the weight of the block 6 and the parts carried thereby there is provided a flexible strand 69 shown as a chain, and this strand. is connected at one end to the block 6 and from thence is carried up and around a pulley 70 mounted on a bracket 71 on a top plate 72 made fast to the upper end of the column 1, and from thence the chain passes down through the interior of the column and at its lower end carries a weight 73 housed within the column 1 and capable of moving lengthwise thereof.

It is to be observed that the rod 47 is capable of longitudinal movement through the guide 48, so that adjustment of the block 6 in the manner described is permitted without interference of the connection between the shaft 49 and the rod 47.

Mounted on the base extension 3 is a slide plate 74 held to the base by overhanging guide strips 75 on opposite sides of the plate 74, such plate constituting the foot member of a standard 76 rising therefrom in substantially parallel relation to the corresponding face, this being the front face of the column 1. The slide plate 74 has at the end remote from the standard 76 an ear 77 formed thereon, which ear is threaded for the passage of a screw rod 78 extending through a supporting plate 79 made fast to the outer end of the base extension 3 and beyond the support 79 the screw rod carries a manipulating hand wheel 80. The rod 78 is free to turn in the support 79 but is prevented from moving in the direction of the length of the rod through the support by the hand wheel 80 on one side of the support and a collar 81 fixed to the rod on the other side of the support. By this means a proper manipulation of the hand wheel 80 will move the plate 74 and standard 76 toward and from the column 1 to any extent desired.

Made fast to the face of the column 1 presented toward the standard 76 is a sup porting frame 82 of about the same height as the standard 76 and for lightness made of skeleton type, being held to the column 1 by bolts 83 or otherwise. At that end of the standard 76 constituting the upper end thereof when in operative position there is applied a supporting plate 84 recessed at what constitutes the-upper end, as indicated at 85 to receive and support one end of a wheel hub indicated at 86. The upper end of the frame 82 is also provided with a supporting plate 87 like the supporting plate 85 and provided with a recess 88 designed to receive and support the end of the hub remote from that supported in the recess 85, thetwo plates 84 and 87 being appropriately shaped for the purpose. The upper end of the standard 76 has also formed thereon an oifset member 89 appropriately threaded for the passage of a screw rod 90 provided at the end toward the supporting plate 84 with a bearing head 91 in the form of a plate swiveled to the corresponding end of the rod 90. The other end of the rod. 90 is provided with a crank 92 for the ready turning of the rod, although the crankmay be replaced by any suitable manipulating means.

In line with the rod 90 and carried by an appropriate portion of the column 1 there is a screw pin 93 entering a suitably,

threaded passage in the column 1, while the end of this pin remote from the column carries a swivel plate 94 like the plate 91, while that portion of the pin adjacent the plate 94 may-be squared, as indicated at 95, for the application of a tool, whereby the pin may be screwed into and out of the column 1 to the desired extent. The plate 94 is of a size to enter the usual sleeve at one end of a hub, while the plate 91 may be of a size to engage the other end of the hub to clamp a hub firmly while resting upon the supports 84 and 87.

The standard 76 has attached thereto an arm 96 and the frame 82 has attached thereto a like arm 97, the two arms each having at the upper or free end an eye 98 traversed by a pin 99 carrying a spring 100 confined between the respective eye and a traversing pin 101 with an interposed washer 102, the pin 99 being substantially upright when in operative position, and at the upper end above the eye 98 being formed into a yoke 103 in which is pivoted one end of a corresponding latch lever 104. These levers are of a length to override the portions of the hub seated in the respective recesses 85 and 88, and the levers may be notched or recessed, as indicated at 105 to partially embrace the portion of the hub engaged there by. That end of the lever remote from the pivot support 103 is formed into a handle member 106 and adjacent said handle mem her the lever carries a tooth 107 designed to engage any one of a series of ratchet teeth 108 on the corresponding end of a bracket 109 made fast to the standard 76 or the frame 82, as the case may be.

At a point between the hammer head 17 and the hub supporting means there is made fastto the column 1 an angle bracket 109 having a branch 110 outstanding from the column 1, and to this outstanding portion 110 there is secured an angle member 111 bybolts 112, while the bracket 109 is secured to the column by bolts 113, the arrangement being such that the bracket 109 may be adjusted up and down the column 1 and the angle extension 111 may be adjusted along the branch 110 toward and from the column 1. The angle member 111 has an arm 114 extending toward the hub support in substantial parallelism with the column 1, and the bracket 109 and member 111 constitute an inverted U-shaped gage with the downturned arm 114 parallel with a continuation of the longitudinal axis of the rod or plunger 11 and in spaced relation to the column.

With a machine as described the parts are necessarily adjusted to conform to the size of the wheel to be assembled. The hub is mounted in the recesses 85 and 88 and clamped therein by the levers 104, but not so tightly as to prevent the turning of the hub as desired, and, furthermore, the hub is also clamped and centered by a suitable manipulation of the crank 92, bringing the plates 91 and 94 into contact with the respective ends of the hubs but not so tightly as to prevent the turning of the hub. Moreover, the hammer supporting means is adjusted to conform to the size of the hub and the length of the spoke, and the machine is then ready for use. An operator takes a spoke, such as indicated at 115, and having dipped the tenon end of the spoke in glue, inserts it in a suitable sprocket or mortise of the hub, and then the spoke is brought into position with relation to the downturned arm 114 of the angle member 111 of the gage, so that the hub and the downturned arm may be grasped at one time by onehand of the operator thus enabling the operator to securely hold the spoke in operative position without liability of displacement during subsequent operation. The position of the parts is such that this will center the outer end of the spoke in line with the hammer head 17 when the operator by pressing upon the treadle 6O rocks the lever 58 in such manner as to move the friction clutch member or pulley 32 into engagement with the friction clutch memberor wheel 29, so as to couple the shaft 22 to the power when the rotation of the shaft will impart a rapid reciprocatory movement to the rod 11 and the hammer 17 carried thereby. There results a rapid succession of blows on the outer end of the spoke 115, which end is uppermost, and the other end of the'spoke is driven firmly into the socket in the hub into which it is inserted, the hammer imparting firm, rapid, and yet elastic blows to the spoke, the force of the blows being increased by the action 65 of the springs 13 and 14 upon the hammer due to the momentum of the rod 11. In the actual operation of the machine, after the spoke has been placed and held to the gage by both the spoke and the gage being grasped in the hand of the operator, the treadle is pressed so as to bring the friction clutch into light engagement, thus causing a slow reciprocation of the plunger to tap the end of the spoke lightly, and then by a further compressing of the treadle the friction clutch is brought into more firm engagement, so that the speed of the plunger is correspondingly increased, this causing an increased travel of the plunger in both directions and more particularly in the active direction, thus adding the inertia of the plunger to the impulse given it by the positive drive imparted by the wrist pin and the blow of the plunger is therefore more pronounced than at first. The pressure on the foot lever is then relieved, so that the blows are again lightened as the shoulder of the spoke is brought into engagement with the hub and the setting of the spoke is thereby completed. The treadle is now released from pressure, a second spoke is dipped at the tenon end in glue and inserted in the next socket in order, and by means of the newly inserted spoke the hub may be turned an appropriate distance until the spoke is positioned by the hand of the operator grasping the downturned portion 114 of the angle member 111. The treadle is again moved by the foot of the operator to couple the power to the hammer, and the second spoke is driven into the hub. The operation is repeated until all the spokes have been driven into the hub, when the wheel so far as completed by the machine of the present invention may be quickly removed from the hub supporting and clamping members and another hub inserted, after which the operation of placing the spokes may be repeated.

The capability of varying the speed of reciprocation of the plunger and thereby varying its stroke and the force of the blows is particularly valuable in connection with the driving of spokes for the final spokes to be driven in a wheel hub require more force than the preceding spokes, because of the crowding caused by the driving of the preceding spokes into the hub and the consequent narrowing of the sockets or mortises which receive the spoke tenons. By speeding up the drive shaft by means of the friction clutch, the force of the blows delivered to the spoke may be increased to drive the last spoke or the last few spokes firmly into the hub. Practice has demonstrated that by increasing the speed of the drive shaft to its maximum the length of power stroke of the plunger may be increased several inches so that a wheel having shorter spokes than the wheel for which the machine may at any time be set, may be assembled without the necessity of changing the position of the carrier for the plunger along the column, even when the length of the spokes may vary as much as three or four inches in a machine designed for and set to drive spokes for, say, ord nary carriage wheels.

For wheels of different diameters the hammer is readily adjusted up or down, and where the spokes are dished the pin 93 and rod 90 may be adjusted in one direction or the other to bring the butt ends of the spokes slightly out of line with the hammer, while still retaining the free ends of the spokes within the path of the hammer. It is found in practice that the spokes are as effectively driven into the hub as when they are strictly radial to the hub.

F or hubs of diiferent lengths, the standard 6 is readily adjusted toward and from the frame 82 and the adjustable clamping means for the ends of the hub provide for maintaining the socket portions of the hub in line with the longitudinal axis of the hammer, or with that degree of displacement desired to provide for the dishing of the wheel.

What is claimed is 1. In a spoke driving machine a single upright column having the front and rear Walls open for a portion of their length near the upper end of the column and at the front opening provided with guideways, a pulley at the top of the column, a block mounted in the guideways and movable therealong in front of the column, said block being also provided with an extension projecting through the column, a plunger carried by the block, a drive shaft mount- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 1

ed transversely in the block and its extension and connected to the plunger, a flexible member connected to the block and extended over the pulley at the top of the column and down into and movable within the column, a counterweight carried by the flexible memher, and means for adjusting the block in hand of an operator and held in alinement with the plunger.

3. In a spoke driving machine, a support for a hub, a reciprocatory member, a plunger carried by the reciprocatory member and movable therewith toward and from the hub support, equalizer springs interposed between the plunger and the reciprocatory member carrying it, means for imparting positive reciprocatory movements to the reciprocatory member, a friction clutch controlling the means for imparting positive movements to the reciprocatory member, and means for controlling the degree of engagement of the friction clutch at will.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto ailixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LEVIS. GARMAN. lVitnesses J. P. STEDMAN, J. A. SHOTWELL.

Washington, D. G.

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