US1238144A

US1238144A - Machine for softening flexible material.

Info

Publication number: US1238144A
Application number: US14009617A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward F Hodgkins
Original assignee: NAUMKEAG BUFFING MACHINE Co
Current assignee: NAUMKEAG BUFFING MACHINE Co
Priority date: 1917-01-02
Filing date: 1917-01-02
Publication date: 1917-08-28
Anticipated expiration: 1934-08-28

Description

E. F. HODGKINS.

MACHINE FOR SOFTENING FLEXIBLE MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.2, 1917 1 9 1 Patented Aug. 281917.

yVl/ AZTUR w EDi/VARD :5. I-IGDGKINS, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS,

ASSIGNOR TO NAUMKEAG BUFFING MACHINE COMPANY, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, A. CORPORATION OF MAINE.

MACHINE FOB SOFTENING FLEXIBLE MATERIAL.

Application filed January 2, 1917.

connection with a machine for softeningemery cloth. I s

.In the manufacture of boots and shoes it is common to buii or scour the bottoms of the outsoles' by means of an air-cushioned rubber tool having a cover of emery cloth such, for example, as that shown in the patent to Rogers No. 631,675; and it is desirable that the cover be flexible enough to adapt itself readily to variations in the surface contour and irregularities in the surface of the sole. Emery cloth, however, as it comes from the manufacturer is comparatively stiff, and after having been made up into covers such as that shown in the patent does not readily conform to such variations and irregularities.

The general object of the present invention is to provide mechanism for softening and thus rendering more flexible emery cloth or other sheet material for any desired purposes of which,thiat"explained above will Serve as an example.

One feature of the invention comprises a machine of the class described having a softening tool provided with ribs thereon extending obliquely to the axis thereof, and means for drawing sheet material about said tool. In the illustrative machine the sheet is drawn about a roll having a projecting helix thereon, said roll having a peripheral speed greater than that of the movement of the sheet material. There is thus formed in the sheet at the locality engaged by the roll a series of waves which are caused to travel across the sheet in a direction at an angle to that of the bodily movement of said sheet. This bending of the sheet material in two directions, one around the tool and one 1n Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Au 28, 1917. Serial No. 140,096.

the direction of the waves, removes its stillness to a conslderable degree.

It is desirable to be able to control the degree to which the sheet material is softened, since a softer product is necessary in some instancesthan in others. Another feature of the invention comprises in a machine having a softening tool and means for drawing sheet material about said tool the provision of means wherebythe area of contact between said material and tool may be varied. In the illustrative machine the material is led from thetool over a guide roll which is adjustable, in such manner that.

the area of contact referred increased or diminished.

These and other features of the invention, including certain details of construction and to above may be combinations of parts will be described inconnection with an illustrative machine and pointed out in the appended claims. Referring now to the ELCcC mpanying draw- 1ngs,

Figure 1 is a perspective of a machinev in which the present invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a detail partly in section showing the mechanism for controlling the tension of the sheet material; Fig. 3 is a detail, principally in section, showing the mechanism by which the blocks Whichsupport certain bearings areheld in adjusted position; Fig. 4 is an elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the softening tool shown in Fig. 1, an

Fig. 5 is an elevation showing a modified form in which two softening'tools are emploved.

The emery cloth or other sheet material 100 is wound from a friction controlled idle reel 7 upon a power actuated reel 9, the

sheet in its travel passing over or under idle rolls 11 as well as about a softening tool 13 and a guide member 15. The idle or unwinding reel 7 comprises a wooden core into the ends of which are driven bearing memnishes means for varying the tension exerted on the sheet material during the winding operation. The power actuated winding reel 9 is provided with the usual slot to receive the end of the strip of emery cloth and may be rotated by any suitable mecha nism,.the ordinary back gearing of a lathe being shown driven by a belt 27 to draw the paper slowly in the directions indicated by the arrows.

In order to permit ready removal of these reels and rolls as well as to permit proper spacing of them, it is desirable that their bearings should be adjustable in two or more directions; and inasmuch as the mounting of these hearings is identical, with a few slight variations which will be pointed out later, only one of them will be described in detail. The bearings are held between pivot screws 29 in yokes 31 the stems of which are held in adjusted vertical position in upright socket members 33 by screw bolts 35, said socket members being fast to or integral with slides 37. The slides are mounted in guideways in blocks 39 being held in adjusted position by plates 41 which in turn are held down upon the slides 21 by screws 43. On their under sides the blocks have guideways to receive ribs 45 formed on the upper faces of slotted crosspieces or supports 47 which rest upon legs 49. Depending from theblocks through the slots in the supports 47 are bolts 51 having threaded upon their lower ends hand wheels 53 the hubs of which bear against the under sides of plates 55 and thereby hold the blocks in adjusted position lengthwise of the supports 17. it will thus be clear that the socket members 33 may be adjusted in the direction of the axes of their respective rolls to permit ready removal and replacement of said rolls, as well as in a direction at right angles to said axes to permit proper spacing of said rolls; and that the yokes may be adjusted vertically after the screw bolts 35 have been loosened. The bearings of all the rolls are substantially alike except that the bearing of the forward roll 11 is fastened directly upon one of the plates 41 and that the spindle 17 of the unwinding reel has square ends which are received in correspondingly shaped yokes to prevent said spindle from rotating.

The softening tool 13 is shown as a roll of small diameter having would thereon two helices 57 beginning at a point near the mid dle of said roll and extending in opposite directions. As best shown in Fig. 4 it will be seen that the pitch of these helices is con siderable, the distance between the coils in the illustrative tool being greater than the diameter of said tool. The purpose of this construction is to permit the emery cloth to be drawn down between the coils so as to form waves which, when the tool is rotated as will presently be described, travel rapidly from the middle portion to the edges of the sheet and thereby render it more flexible. At each end of the tool 7 is a sleeve 59 held in adjusted position by a set screw 61 and having cut in it a helical groove to receive the outer ends of the helices 57. It some times happens that the edges of the emery cloth receive too harsh a treatment or get turned in and broken. In such case the sleeves are adjusted toward the middle portion of the tool until they are in positions to extend a short distance under the edges of the sheet and thereby support said edges. This softening tool or roll is mounted in bearings supported pivotally by curved standards 63 which rest upon slides 37 exactly like the slides which support the socket members 33. Fast to one end of this softening roll is a pulley 65 to which power is applied by the belt 67 in the direction indicated by the arrow so that the periphery of said roll where it engages the emery cloth travels in a direction opposite to that of the travel of said cloth. And while the emery cloth travels slowly, the softening roll rotates very fast so that the waves formed by drawing the cloth tightly over the helices are caused to travel rapidly in a direction transverse to the travel of the sheet.

ltis desirable to control the degree to which the softening of the emery cloth is carried. To this end the guide member 15,

herein shown as a roll of small diameter, is provided. 4 This member is mounted, like the idle rolls which support the emery cloth, and is capable of adjustment in the same directions. It will thus be seen that by loosening the appropriate hand wheels 53 the blocks 39 which support this guide roll or member 15 may be moved forward or backward on the supports 47 to decrease or to increase the area of contact between the emery cloth and the softening roll and thereby to control the degree of softening of said cloth.

In the operation of the machine a roll of emery cloth is mounted on the reel, 7. In practice the cloth comes wound upon a wooden core such as indicated at 7. The

bushings 207 are driven into this core and then slipped on the spindle 17 and the spindle placed in its yokes; The tension device is then applied and tightened somewhat by turning the hand wheel 25. The end of the sheet of emery cloth is then attached to a assa-ea tion, and power applied to the belts 27 and 67. The emery cloth travels slowly in the directions indicated by the arrows, and the gem. i g" cloth is softened by being drawn over or about the softening tool 13. If the edges of the sheet are receiving too harsh treatment, the machine is stopped and the sleeves 59 moved into position to support said edges.

In Fig. 5 there is shown a modified form of softening device comprising two tools 7 5, 77, one having a right-hand and the other a left-hand helix. When this form of softening device is used, the parts of the machine are the same as before except that the two tools 7 5, 77 are substituted for the single tool 13, and said tools are rotated by belts applied to the two pulleys 79, 81. With this device the waves are caused to travel first in one direction and then in the other across the sheet. WVhether the preferred or the modified device is used, the softening tools are made by winding small. rods about the cylindrical cores to form the helices; and in the form shown in Fig. 4 the two ends of the helices which meet are set into a tapered block 85 the forward edge of which is substantially flush with the surface of the core so that the cloth will not be caught and torn.

Although the invention has been set forth in connection with a particular machine, it should be understood that the invention is not limited in the scope of its application to the particular machine shown and described.

The method of softening sheet material is not claimed herein but forms the subjectmatter of my co-pending application Serial No. 140,095 filed J an. 2, 1917.

Having thus described my invention, ,what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine of the class described, hav

ing, in combination, a softening tool comprising a member having thereon ribs extendin obliquely with respect to the axis thereo and means for drawing sheet material about said tool.

2. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool comprising a member having thereon ribs extendin obliquely with respect to the axis thereo means for drawing sheet material about said tool, and means whereby the area of contact between the tool and the material may be varied to control the degree of softenin of the material.

8. 3 machine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool, means for drawing sheet material about said tool, and means whereby the area of contact between the tool and the material may be varied to control the degree of softening of the material.

a. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool having a projecting helix thereon, and means for drawing sheet material over said tool.

5. Aimachine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool having a projecting helix thereon, means for rotating said tool, and means for drawing sheet material over said tool.

6. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool having a projecting helix thereon, means for drawing sheet material over said tool, and means whereby the tension exerted upon the sheet material by the drawing operation may be varied.

7. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool, means forrotating said tool, means for drawing sheet material over said tool, and means whereby the area of Contact betweenthe tool and the material may be varied to con trol the degree of softening of the material.-

8. A machine of the class described, hav ing, in combination, a softening tool comprlsing a roll having a projecting helix thereon, means for drawing sheet material over said tool, and means whereby the area of contact between the tool and the material may be varied to control the degree of softhe area of contact of the sheet material with the roll.

10. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool, means for rotating said tool, and means for drawing sheet material over said tool at a speed less than the peripheral speed of the ro tating tool.

11. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool, means for rotating said tool, means for drawing sheet material over said tool at a speed less than the peripheral speed of the rotating tool, and means whereby the area of contact between the tool and the material may be varied to control the degree of softening of the material.

12. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool comprising a roll having a projecting helix thereon, and means for drawing sheet material over said tool at a speed less L lian the peripheral speed of the rotating tool.

13. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool commeans whereby the area of contact between the tool and the material may be varied to control the degree of softening of the material.

14. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a roll having a project ing helix thereon, sleeves at the ends of said roll threaded to receive the ends of the helix the diameter ofthe sleeves being substantially equal to the diameter of thehelix, means for rotating said roll, and means for drawing a piece of sheet material over said roll with the edges of said material resting uponsaid sleeves.

15. A machine of the class described, hay-- 'ing, in combination, a roll, rods wound. helically around said roll beginning at approximately the middle of said roll and extending in right and left helices to the ends thereof, means for rotating said roll, and means for drawing a sheet of flexible material over said roll.

16. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a roll, rods Wound helieally around said roll beginning at approximately the middle of said roll and extending in right and left helices to the ends thereon, means for rotating said roll, means for drawing a sheet of flexible material over said roll, and means for varying the area of contact of the sheet material with the roll.

17. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool eomprising a roll having a projecting helix thereon, means for rotating said tool, and means for drawing sheet material about said tool with sufficient tension to cause the coils of the helix to form waves in the sheet material, the peripheral speed of the rotating roll being greater than the movement of the sheet material.

18. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool comprising a roll having a projecting helix thereon, means for rotating said tool, means for drawing sheet material about said tool with suflicient tension to cause the coils of the helix to form waves in the sheet material, the peripheral speed of the rotating roll being greater than the movement of the sheet material, and means whereby said tension may be varied.

19. A machine of the class described, hav ing, in combination, a softening tool comprising a roll having projecting helices thereon of opposite curvature, the distance between the coils of said helices being greater than the diameter of the roll, means for rotating said roll, means for drawing sheet material about said roll, and means for exerting sufiicient tension to pull the sheet material in between the coils of the helices to form Waves.

20. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a softening tool, means for drawing sheet material over said tool, a guide member located adjacent said tool over which also said material is drawn, and means whereby said member may be adjusted to vary the area of contact of said material With said tool.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

' EDWARD F. HODGKINS.