US1285041A - Surface-dressing machine. - Google Patents

Description

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3| 1911- G. C. CLARK.

SURFACE DRESSING MACHINE.

Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET i.

el ttozmuj G. C. CLARK.

vSURFACE DRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3. IQI- 1,285,041 ,Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

Itllfr GEORGE c. CLARK, 0F EVERETT, WASHINGTON.

SURFACE-DRESSING MACHINE.

Application led December 3, 1917.

To all Iwhom t may concern.'

Be itknown that I, GEORGE C. CLARK, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Everett, in the county of Snohomish and State'of Washington, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Surface-Dressing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines yfor use in dressing off surfaces which are irregular and uneven to produce surfaces of smooth contour and more particularly for dressing off surfaces composed of wood. It employs a cutting member, which is preferably in the form of a rotating cutter head, which is mounted upon a combination of carriages which are capable of traveling upon rails secured upon the surfaces which are to be dressed, suitable means being provided for adjusting the cutter head so that it may successively dress different sections of the surfaces by moving the device along the rails.

One of the principal uses of my invention in the dressing of the plank receiving surfaces of the ribs of wooden vessels, so as to secure a true and smooth outline for the reception of the planks. It is, however, evident that my device may be employed for dressing other surfaces than these.

My invention is capable of dressing surfaces which are plane or curved, and which occupy any angular position, whether horizontal, vertical, or any angle between.

rIhe particular features of my invention which are novel and upon which I ask for patent, will be hereinafter set forth and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention embodied in aform of construction which I now prefer to use. This construction is, however, given only as illustrative ofthe principles embodied in my invention and not with any intention of suggesting that the same is the only construction which may be employed.

Figure l is a side elevation of my device shown in the position which it wouldu occupy in dressing the under sides of beams.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 19, 191s. Serial No; 265,253.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the device shown in similar position.

Fig. 3 is a detail showing in end view and cross section on the line A A of Fig. l, mechanism employed for raising and lowering the transverse bars.

Fig. d is a. section showing themanner of adjusting and locking the eccentrics used in adjusting the angular position or level of the cutter head mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a face view of a cutter head showing a formk of construction which I have found excellently adapted for use in dressing ofi edges of wooden beams.l

My invention has been particularly designed for the dressing off of the surfaces of ribs or frames of wooden ships preparatory to putting the planks thereon and I will so describe it, although it will be understood that it may be similarly used for dressing any other kind of surfaces wherein the conditions are at all analogous.

In the construction of wood vessels the timbers for forming the ribs and frames are cut as near as may be to the proper shape and thereafter being Joined together, are put 1n place on the ways. In doing this it is vimpossible to get an absolutely true surface of the outer and inner edges of these frames` so that-when the planks are placed thereon they will have true bearing upon all of these frames, p

It has heretofore been customary to dress these frames by hand so as to get a true contour of the plank receiving surfaces thereon. This has proven a slow and eX- pensive operation and my machine is designed for use fordoing this dressing off of the frames, which process is usually re ferred to as dubbing and this dubbing operation requires men who are expert in the use of an adz, and it is difficult to find men who can do this work satisfactorily.

The foundation for the operation of my machine consists of a trackway formed by two sets of rails 1 which are securedy to thesurface to be dubbed off or dressed. These rails may be, and I prefer to have them, ordinary T-head rails, such for instance, as

are used for nialting tracks upon which to run cars. rll'he essential features of these rails is that they may he capable of being quickly and easil.T secured to the surfaces to he dressed and that they hare a head suit-able for the reception and retention of the carriage wheels of my device. rlfhey should preferably, he of a size as will perinit their bendingl enough to ht the curved contour of the ships surface.

These rails niay he conveniently secured tothe wood frames of a vessel by, ineans of lag screws l which enter the loody of the franies and which employ a har or washer l1 which orerlaps the hase flange of the rail. Any suitable .ineans for securing these in place may, however, he employed.

l prefer a carriage for each of these rails. Each carriage has two pairs of wheels which are provided with a. flange at each side so spaced as to snugly lit over the side face of the head of the rail. rllhe axis of these wheels is thus perpendicular to the surface being operated upon. As shown in Figs. l and 2, each of these wheels niounted upon a. pivot 2O which is secured in a nieniher 21 which latter is of a general L shape, the pin 2O being` lined in one arin of the l. and the other arin of the l. having ears formed therein to form part of a pivot or hinge joint. rhese. ears 22 are made to intel-mesh, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2, and a holt Q3, extending through the saine, clainps these together and with theni the upper end of a linlr or har 3 which projects away from the surface being dressed.

These wheel-supporting` nienihers are held toward each other hy a holt 24 so as to cause the wheels to closely engage the head of the rail. By slacking `off on this holt the two inenihcrs 2l may be separated in such inanner as to separate the wheels 2 and thus perniit the carriage to he either placed upon or he rei'iioved frein the rail.

Each carriage duplicates this device and the carriage parts represented in each case hy a pair of wheels and their connected parts, are connected to forni the complete carriage; hy ine-ans of a spacer rod 25, which rod is herein shown as passingI through the inner end of the slot which is formed in the linl; and has clainpingy nuts 2G wherehy the two linlis and their attached carriage parts, inay he rifejidly secured hy the rod The cutting nieuiher is represented as a head e.; which head, for the purpose herein illustrated. namely, the 4dubbing olf of the ribs of a ship. is inade as a face cutter. it consists of a disk d() which is mounted upon a shaft il, the axis of said shaft being placed perpendicular to the surfaces being dressed, and is provided with cutting hits e2 and. e3, the two kinds of hits being' niade with sli@l L different cutting edges so as to secure better cutting action. The particular construction 'of the cutter head is however, not a part of niy present invention and any other type 'whi ch is found to work satisfactorily may he employed.

The shaft of the cutter head is herein shown as a continuation of the shaft of an electric inotor which contained within the case di. The inotor is supplied with current through a wire cable which extends to any suitable point from which current inay he obtained. e

The inotor and the cutter head niechanisin operated thereby are provided with means for supporting7 adjusting and moving theni upon the tuo transversely extending hars 5. which hars are in turn supported hy the arins 3 which extend outwardly from the carriages. These bars 5 are herein shown as hcing of rectangular cross section. rlhey slide within blocks which in turn are inounted upon the arins 3 in such manner that they inay he adjusted lengthwise of the latter. As herein shown, the blocks 50 are each provided' with a flange or rih 5l which lits into the slot 30 in the arin 3. This pre-vents turninlhT relative to the arni 3. The block is se cured in adjusted position on said arni by means of a holt 52 which screws into the liange 5l and beneath which is placed a plate which acts as a washer, hoth for this holt and for the rod 6 by which an adjustment in elevation of the blocks 50 may he ecu-red.

@ne side har of the arins 3 is herein shown as provided with teeth 31 and the rod G which passes through said slots is provided at each end with a pinion which ineshes with the rack teeth 3l. By turning` the rod G, which niay he done hy applying thereto a crank 61, the rod 6 will he raised or lowered and will, carry with it the hloclis 50, and therefore the transverse hars 5. The rod or shaft G is provided with bearings in the blocks 50.

this means the saine ends of both hars :3 are adjusted alike and yet the adjustment of' the opposite ends of the hars 5 inay he different.

ri`he fraine of the niotor dat should he of such construction that it provides uieans for inoveinent of the inotor, with its attached cutter head niechanisnn lengthwise of the hars and also it should provide an adj ustiuent which will enable changing the axis of the cutter head relative to the plane of the surface being dressed and relative to the plane of the hars The construction herein illustrated hy which these results are secured is as follows:

rTwo plates or hars 7 and 70 are secured to @ether with the greater part thereof spaced ap rt sufiiciently to place one at each side of the har They therefore act as retaining and guide membersfor the bear 5. Between the upper ends of the separated portions of the bars 7 and 70, are placed eccentrics 71, which eccentrics have shafts extending through the two bars 7 and 70, andthe outer end thereof secured to members by which they may be adjusted and held in such positions as will enable them to be employed for raising and lowering the fram@ relative to the bars 5. I prefer to eihploy with each motor three of these members, two being at one side of the motor and engaging the same bar 5 and the other being centrally placed atI the opposite side. In this manner a three-point support is secured and the motor and cutter head mechanism is adjust able universally, so far as the position of its axis goes, within a certain range of movement.

The two eccentrics which are at the same side of the deyice, have arms 72 secured to 'their shafts and these arms are connected together, as by a link 73, which linkis provided with a slot 74 at one or both ends, and this link is secured to the crank arm 72 by bolts 75. By means of the slot 74, the two arms 72 at the same side of the machine, may be adjusted independently of each other to thereby shift the axis of the motor in one direction and thereafter the adjustment up and down would be alike for both.

The single device which is at the opposite side of the machine, and in fact, one of the devices upon the side where two are employed, are preferably provided with a locking device, such as is illustrated in Fig. 4f. The eccentric 7l has secured thereto a stem 7 6 which is axially bored to receive a clamping bolt 8. The sleeve 7 6 has secured thereto a hand wheel 77, by which it may be turned and thereby turn the eccentric 7l. The bolt 8 at its outer end has a small hand wheel S0 by which it may be turned, or the wheel 80 mcy constitute a nut which turns upon the bolt 8. Bythis means the eccentric may be readily adjusted and then, when this adjustment is secured, clamping down by means of the bolt 8 will hold the eccentric in adjusted position, thus making the adjustment permanent. One clamping device of this sort, it is preferred, shall be provided for each side of the machine.

Secured upon the frame of the motor is a nut 9, through which passes a threaded rod 90, which rod is mounted to turn with reference to one of the arms 3 of one carriage but is held against longitudinal movement. At the other carriage it is provided with a journal bearing, but not a thrust bearing. The nut 9 is mounted so as to be fixed in position relative to movements of the carriage in a direction parallel with the length of they bars but so that it may have a limited amount of movement transversely of these bars. This may be securedby giving the nut a rib of a width to lit between the bars 7 and 70 and by providing a plate 91, which is secured to one of the bars, as 7, and is provided with a flange 92 which engages the outer face of the nut and thus prevents movement lengthwise of the bar 5.

A crank arm,'as 93, may be secured to the end of bar 9, and by rotation of the same, the motor and its carriage maybe moved along the bars 5 as desired.

In preparing to use this machine the first step is the placing of the rails l upon which the apparatus is supported and operated. These rails are preferably of such weight that they may be bent so yas to conform to the outer contour of the hull of the vessel, or whatever surface is to be dressed. The finished contour of the surface is determined largely by the positionof the rails l. These rails are preferably maintained in parallel relation, although this feature is not strictly necessary. The distance between these rails is approximately some multiple of the width of the surface dressed by the cutter head at one movement Then the rails are properly placed, the carriages are placed thereon and the bars 5 with the motor and cutter head, also putf in place. The whole device may be conveniently maintained in connected form and both carriages be put in place at once. The position of the bars 5 relative to the supporting arms 3 is adjusted so as to bring the cutter head 4 into position so as to en gage, and remove as much as may be desired ofthe ribs, or whatever other surface is to be dressed.

The line adjustment of the cut-ter head both as to elevation and as to angular' position, may be secured through the use of the eccentrics 7l. The connection between the transverse bars 5 and the arms 3 is secured by turning the shaft 6, until the proper position is obtained and then clamping the same in place by tightening the clamping nut 62. Then the parts of all have been properly adjusted with the cutter close up to one of the rails l, the cutter is started and the entire machine is caused to travel along the rails l, the cutter meanwhile dressing off the surface of the ribs as may be necessary.

As the contour of this surface is determined by the contour given the rails, and Yas t-he rails will have a smooth and regular contour irrespective of the surfaces of the ribs, these surfaces of the ribs will be dressed to a smooth and regular contour. After the machine has reached one end of the rails the shaft 90 is turned enough to shift the motor and the cutter head adapted thereto so as to dress a strip which just meets or overlaps the one just dressed, and the device is run in the return direction along the rails.

resale/ii Nfn this way the device dresses a series of narrow strips until the space between the rails has been covered. rlhe machine is then taken off the rails and the rails shifted toV operate upon a new belt. Y

The diameter of the cutter head 4 is preferably made that of the width of the narrower boards used for the planlring. Where the contour of the ribs is rounded, the angular position of the cutting mechanism may be adjusted to correspond, and the cutter head will cut a series of plane surfaces, each at an angle with the others and of a width to each receive a single planlr. In consequence, the planks are given a true fiat seating upon the ribs. Y

My device may be applied to dressing horizontal surfaces, whether from below or from above and also vertical surfaces, or

surfaces placed at any angle between. It may, therefore, be employed for rapidly dressing or dubbing off outer and inner surfaces of the ribs of vesselsto receive the planlring. it this work the result secured is more even and true than can be obtained by hand methods, and also is much more rapid.

l have described this machine as used for dubbing off the ribs of wooden ships. lt is evident that it may be applied for dressing floors or any other lrindV of a surface to which it is possible to secure rails for guide purposes. T he trueness of the finished surface is not dependent upon the original surface which is being treated, but upon the trueness in direction of the rails which are secured thereon and which may be blocked out, or held away from thel surface at any point, as may be necessary. What l claim as my invention is:

1. ln a surface dressing machine, in combination, traclrway rails having laterally enlarged heads and adapted to be secured to the surfaces to be dressed, carriages adapted to be secured upon said rails and having opposed double flanged wheels embracing the railk heads from opposite sides and means for adjusting the opposed wheels toward and from each other to thereby engage and r disengagethe wheels with the rails.

ln a surface dressing machine, in combination, two lines of rails vadapted to be secured in parallel relation upon the surface to be dressed, two carriages adapted each to run upon its line of rails and each having pair yof arms projecting away from the surface to be dressed, a pair of transverse bars extending between like arms of opposite carriages, means for securing said '5U bars to said arms for adjustment lengthwise of the supporting` arms, and a motor driven cutter-head carried by said bars. y

3. ln a surface dressing machine, in combination, two lines of rails adapted to be se cured in parallel relation upon the surface to be dressed, two carriages adapted each to run upon its line of rails and each having a pair of supporting arms separated lengthwise of the rails and projecting away from the surface to be dressed, a pair of trans verse bars extending between like arms of opposite carriages, a rack and pinion adjusting connection between said transverse bars and the supporting arms, and a motor driven cutter-head carried by said bars.

Il. ln a device for dubbing oif surfaces, in combination, track rails, carriages secured to travel on said rails, transverse connecting bars, supporting connection from said bars to the carriages containing means for adjustment of the connecting bars toward and from the surface being dressed, a. motor driven cutter-head mechanism mounted to move along said transverse bars and a threaded shaft secured to turn in said supporting connection and in parallel relation with said transverse bars, and a nut engaging said shaft and secured upon the cutter-head mechanism.

ln a surface dressing machine, in combination, two lines of rails adapted to be secured in parallel relation upon the face of the surface to be dressed, said rails having an enlarged or flanged head, a carriage for each rail having two pairs of double flanged wheels spanning the heads of the rails from opposite sides thereof, said wheels mounted so'as to be capable 0f being spread apart to permit removal of the carriage from the rails, a cutter head and actuating means therefor and means for supporting said cutter head from the carriages to dress the sun face between the rails.

6. ln a surface dressing machine, in combination, two lines of rails adapted to be secured in parallel relation to the face of the surface to be dressed, said rails having an enlarged or flanged head, a carriage for each line of rails having two pairs of double hanged wheels spanning the heads of the rails from opposite sides thereof, said wheels at one side of the rail head being mounted on arms having a pivotal connection with the carriage, clamping means for holding said wheel-carrying parts together, a cutterhead and its actuating means, and means for supporting said head from said carriages to dress the surface between the rails.

7. ln a surface dressing machine in combination, two carriages adapted to run upon separated guide rails, two guide bars connecting said carriages and maintained in separated and parallel relationship, a cutterhead and its actuating means having supporting and guiding engagement with said guide bars, the supporting and guiding means containing two members engaging one guide bar and one engaging the other and means for adjusting said supporting means independently of each other.

8. In a surface dressing machine, in combination7 two lines of rails adapted to be secured to the surface to be dressed and in parallel relation, a carriage mounted to travel along each line of rails, two guide bars, means for supporting said guide bars from said carriages in separated and parallel relation with each other and with the surface t0 be dressed, means for independent Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner adjustment of opposite ends of said guide bars toward and from the rails, a cutterhead carriage mounted to move along said guide bars, a cutter-head and actuating means therefor carried by said carriage, and means for adjusting the axial position of said cutter head.

Signed at Seattle, lVashington, this 26th day of November, 1917.

GEO. C. CLARK.

of Patents,

Washington, ID. C.

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