US1136373A

US1136373A - Wire-making machine.

Info

Publication number: US1136373A
Application number: US46254708A
Authority: US
Inventors: Alfred Shedlock
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1908-11-14
Filing date: 1908-11-14
Publication date: 1915-04-20
Anticipated expiration: 1932-04-20

Description

A. SHEDLOCK. WIRE MAKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. :4. 1908.

3 136373. Patented M 20, 1915.

WITNESSES I v ,4 NORA/5y 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A. SHEDLOCK. WIRE MAKING MACHINE. APPLICATION man NOV. 14. 1908.

1,136 373, Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

v 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W/ TNE SSE 8 N VE TOR STATES PATENT onnron.

SHEDLOCK, OF CANNON STATION, CONNECTICUT.

' WIRE-MAKING mom.

To all :whoin it may concern Be it known that I, ALFRED SHEDLOCK, a

. citizen of the United States, residing in Cannon Station, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Wire-Makin Machine, of which the following is a speci cation.

This invention provides for the severance of a sheet of metal by the action of gangs of parallel cutters into a series of strands. The cutters act in the direction of the grain of the metal without material disturbance thereof so that the strands have the same characteristics in respect to toughness, tensile strain, etc., as the metal possesses in the sheet before it is severed into strands. The strands as formed by the parallel cutting action of the gangs of cutters are each then subjected to treatment such as rolling whereby the rectangular or square strand is made round or the sharp edges are reduced and the proper smoothness imparted to it. The strands when out from the sheet are rectangular, opposite sides corresponding with the top and bottom faces of the sheet, and the remaining opposite sides being determined b'yithe lines of severance. 'The width of the strands may be equal to the thickness of the sheet, in which event the strands will be square in cross section, or'their width may vary from that of 'the thickness of the sheet, in which'event they would be in cross section oblong. In one case, after being subjected to the rolling or drawing operation,

the resulting Wires may be substantially cir-' cular or of other cross section; and in the other case, they may be'oval. In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 I is a longitudinal vertical section showing rolls such as may be employed in Fig. 5

Fig. 7, a detail section on. the line-1,

Fig. 5: Fig. 8, a detailvie'w def; flection: of the strands as they are-cut from Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 14, 1908; Serial No. 462,547.

the sheet alternated, one set bein directed upward and the remaining a ternating strands of the other one directed downward. Fig. 9,- a detail sectional view showing strands of square cross section as cut from the sheet and circular or approximately circular cross section by rolling: Fig. 10, a detail sectional view showing strands of oblong cross section cut from the sheet and the oval cross section 'to which they arereduced.

The metal sheet severing apparatus illustrated comprises an upper gang of circular cutters a separated by spacing washers b of less diameter suitably mounted upon and keyed to a shaft 0 fitted to rotate in bearings in a suitable frame and provided at one end with a driving pulley d, or other means, by which it may be rotated; and, at the other end, with a gear 7 meshing with and driving another gear on the shaft g of the opposed gang of cutters consisting of similar circular cutters and spacing washers. The cutters in one gang respectively enter and closely laterally fit the spaces between the cutters of the other gang so that the sheet of metal fed to them will be divided into parallel strands by the rolling shearing cutting action of the rotary cutters. A sheet of metal thus to be divided into parallel strands is indicated by h and is fed between guiding ends of strippers, of which there are one series for the upper gang of cutters and another series for the lower gang of cutters, there being a stripper for each space between contiguous cutters and one for each outside cutter. Each stripper i is curved as at to fit the bottom ofthe annular space which it occupies. Its opposite guide side or ed e k is su stantially straight, as in Fig.

1, an extends some distance at the front or feeding side ofthe cutters, the upper andlower series being spaced apart 'to'provide a guide way for the proper presentation of the sheet material to the cutters. The portion of each stri per at the central line of the cutters is ciently less in depth than that of the ace to permit the free passage of the stran which latter is marked p. The inner ends of the curved edges of the' ripperscontact dirt, etc., from the grooves of thegangs of cutters. The ends with the peripheries of the and are shaped to act as to remove and this gear .9 meshes with a gear u on the shaft of the upper roll of the second pair '0 as indicated by the broken line circles in Fig. 1. The rolls of each pair are geared together in any appropriate way. The two pairs of strand-reducing rolls t and '0 may, by proper proportioning of their drivin gears have preferably a speed in excess 0 the speed of the rotary cutters. The first pair of rolls t, is indicated in detail in Fig.

3. The opposed grooves therein are formed 'to act upon the angles or corners of the strands to reduce them and partially form the strands preparatory to the action of the second pair of rolls "2;, 'v, shownin detail in Flg. 4. The opposed grooves of this pair of rolls are semi-circular incross section, the rolls tending toreduce the strands to circu= lar cross section, or substantially so, making a wire without sharp edges and of suitable smoothness for the uses to which wire is ordinarily applied.

In Fig. 5 there are, as before, the opposed gangs of rotary cutters and also strippers passing between the cutters beyond the point of out. In this case, the strippers w of the lower-gang of cutters have their upper edges straight, and the similarly formed strippers of the upper gang of cutters have their lower edges straight, substantially to the cutting point, and then curved conformably to the cutters. The inner or leading ends of the curved edges of all of the strip ers bear on the peripheries of spacing was ers and are shaped to remove dirt, etc., from the grooves of the gangs of cutters. The point of the V-shaped guide :0 projects between the delivery ends of the strlppers and preferably has its faces curved as shown at 3 and formed with the curve of the cutters.

Cooperating with the lower face of this guide is a comb-plate 2 whose fingers 1 fit in the grooves of thelower gan of cutters and constitute a continuation o the strippers; and, cooperating with; the u per face of the.

V-shaped guide, is a s' ar combguide plate 2, having the comb plate 2 and fitting in the grooves of the upper gang ofcutters. The ends of l the fingers of the two comb plates 2 and 2 are beveled and-seat under reversely formed bevels at'the ends of the stri pers, so that the 'cut strands will pass wit out obstruccomb plates.

fingers similar to those of.

tion from the strippers to the fingers of the This arran ement of guide grooves and comb plates iordirecting the cutalternating strands of the two sections in upwardly and downwardly directions,

and with each strand in vertical plane withthe groove of the gang of cutters in which it is .formed, is the preferred and many respects the most practical embodiment of "the invention. The resultant action of the two coacting gangs of cutters on a thin sheet of metal is to produce a multiplicity of fine-strands or filaments arranged side by side as they leave the cutters, and as there is a tendency for such strands or filaments to twist or bend their free passage through a narrow pasa wa common to them might be somewhat inter ered with. By directlng J the strands of the two sets in different vertical directions through individual passages for each strand all such possible trouble will be avoided. Of course, when comparatively heavier or coarser strands are formed from thicker sheet metal they may all pass through a common passage way as they leave the cutters.

Fig. 7 shows in section, a strand guide' -formed by the parts :2: and z. .The comb plate a is provided with ribs so as to form guide channels, one for each strand. The

comb plate 2 has similarly formed guide channels. With this construction, it will be apparent that the cut strands that occupy the grooves in the lower gang of cutters will be carried downwardly and the cut strands that occupy the grooves of theupper of cutters will be carried upwardly, as

. cated in Fig. 8. The guides irect one set of strandsto one set of reducing

rolls

3, 3, the other set of strands to another set of reducing

rolls

4, 4. The

rolls

3,3, and 4 4:, are shown in detail in Fig. 6. The opposed grooves therein are shown as semi-circular in cross section so that the tendency is to reduce the strands to circular cross section, as in Fig. 9. Of course, if the openings between the rolls were of oval formation their.

action would be to reduce the strands to oval.

cross section and such would be the case where the width and thickness of the strand vary. There may be two or more pairs of reducing rolls, as before described, applied to the construction shown in Fig. 5. This inventionis applicable to the manufacture of. soft wires: The length of the wire strands produced depends upon' the Z length of the sheet of the metal fed to the rotary cutters plus increase in length due to the rounding process. It is contemplated that the apparatus is particularly applicable to producing short pieces of wire of a length adapted to'special purpose such foriinstance, as florists use, wiring bottle stoppers, etc.

. Of course a plurality of long pieces of wire may be simultaneously made, their lengths being limited by the length of the strip or ribbon of sheet metal from which they are cut.

I claim:

1. The combination of opposed gangs of rotary cutters adapted to sever sheet metal into a multiplicity of strands, strippers arranged in the grooves of the gangs of cutters to discharge the cut strands therefrom, and guides for directing each set of strands from the strippers of the respective gangs of cutters in different angular directions relative to the plane of travel of the sheet metal from which they are cut, said strands of each set being guided in vertical parallel planes and leaving the discharge ends of the guides uniformly spaced apart.

2. The combination of opposed gangs of rotary cutters adapted to sever sheet metal into a multiplicity of strands, strippers arranged in the grooves of the gangs of cutters to discharge the cut strands therefrom, guides for directing each set of strands from the strippers of the respective gangs of cutters in different angular directions relative to'the plane of travel of the sheet metal from which they are cut, said strands of each set being guided in vertical parallel planes and leaving the discharge ends of the guides uniformly spaced apart and a pair of shaping rollers located at the discharge ends of the guides of each set of strands adapted to change the cross section of the strands.

3. The combination of opposed gangs of rotary cutters adapted to sever sheet metal into a multiplicity of strands, strippers arranged in the grooves bf the gangs of cutters to discharge the cut strands therefrom and shaped to act as scrapers to remove dirt, &c., from said grooves, guides for directing each set of strands from the strippers of the respective gangs of cutters in different angular directions relative to the plane of travel of the sheet metal from which they are out, said strands of each set being guided in vertical parallel planes and leaving the. discharge ends of the guides the guides of each set of strands adapted to change the cross section of the strands.

4. The combination of opposed gangs of rotary cutters adapted to sever sheet metal into a multiplicity of strands, strippers arranged in the grooves of the gangs of cutters to discharge the cut strands therefrom, and extending at the front or feeding side of the cutters to act as a guide for directing the sheet material to the cutters, the discharge ends of the strippers being undercut, guides havingtheir ends beveled seated under the undercut ends of the strippers for directing each set of strands from the strippers of the respective gangs of cutters in different angular directions relative to the plane of travel of the sheet metal from which they are cut, said strands of each set being guided in vertical parallel planes and leaving the discharge ends of the guides uniformly spaced apart.

5. The combination of opposed gangs of rotary cutters adapted to sever sheet metal into a multiplicity of strands, strippers arranged in the grooves of the gangs of cutters to discharge the cut strands therefrom, guides for directing each set of strands from the strippers of the respective gangs of cutters in difierent angular directions relative to the plane of travel of the sheet metal from which they are out, said strands of each set being guided in vertical parallel planes and leaving the discharge ends of the guides uniformly spaced apart and said guides comprising a V-shaped guide piece Whose point extends into the discharge side of the two gangs of cutters and a comb plate for each 1 ALFRED SHEDLOCK.

Witnesses:

L. F, BROWNING, E. F. WIcKs.