US1359667A - Process of making wire fabric - Google Patents

Description

H. E. BROWN.

PROCESS QF MAKING WIRE FABRIC. APPLICATION FILED JAN- 31. 1917. v

1,359,667. Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

6 SHEETS-SHEET l- H. E. BROWN.

PROCESS OF MAKING WIRE FABRiC. APPLICATION FILED JAN- 31.]1911.

1,359,667, Patented Nov. 23, 1920 6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H. E. BROWN.

PROCESS OF MAKING WIRE FABRIC.

APPLICATION FILED 1mm! 1 1,359,667, Patented Nov. 23,1920.

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PROCESS OF MAKING WIRE FABRHC.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-31,1917.

1,359,6fi2; I Patented. NW. 23,1920.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4* fiwgaaaqss $572M? 7 Fm H. E. BROWN.

PROCESS OF MAKING WIRE FABRIC.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 31, 19!?- Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

6 SHEETSSHEET 5- fiZwm we I 0/2? 71 H. E. BROWN. PROCESS OF MAKING WIRE FABRIC.

APPLICATION FILED MM- 3!, I917- Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

PATENT OFFICE.

HARVEY E. BROWN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

' PROCESS OF MAKING- WIRE FABRIC.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

Original application filed November 19, 1915, Serial No. 62,321. Patent No. 1,224,270, dated May 1, 1917. Divided and. this application filed January 31, 1917. Serial No. 145,635.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, lianvsr E. BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residingat St. Louis, and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Processes of Making Wire Fabric, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in f mess of making wire fabric, and, although capable of different uses, is particularly well suited for producing wire fabric such as is employed in the construction of spring bed bottoms.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved process of the class described capable of being employed in the production of widely varying sizes and constructions of wire fabrics; to provide a process which may be efficiently employed by automatic machinery for constructing such fabrics; and, in general, to provide an improved process of the character referred to.

This is a divisional application, the subject-matter of which is described but not claimed in the original application Serial No. 62,321, filed November 19, 1915, which has now resulted in U. S. Patent Number 1,224,270, issued May 1, 1917.

Illustrating a specific application of. my invention, T will now describe a fabric-making machine in which my improved process may be efficiently utilized, said machine being shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- V Figure 1 is a front elevation;

' Fig. 2 is a view showing a portion of the fabric formed by the machine;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, the belt wheel being removed;

Fig. 1 is an enlargement of a part of 3, showing a portion of the forming mechanism Fig. 5 is an enlarged front view of a por tion of the machine;

Fig. 6 is a view of some of the parts shown in Fig. 5, theparts, however, being in a different position;

'Z is a central section through the main portion of the machine;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of a portion of the tabriccarrying drum;

Fig. 9 is a plan View partly in section;

Figs. 10 and 11 are views showing the mechanism for forming the loops on the ends or the fabric members; and

Fig. 12 is an enlarged view of the mecha' nism for folding the two sides of the fabric members in parallel position.

Like mar rs of reference refer to similar parts in the several views of the drawings.

15 represents a base or pillar upon which the operating parts of the machine are supgorted. Surrounding this base or pillar 15 is collar 16 carrying a guide 17 for guiding the fabric to and from the drum, as will be hereinafter described. Secured to the upper end. of the pillar 15 is a casting 18 to which the drum 19 is secured by means of a bolt or stud 20, as shown in F ig. 7. The drum 19 is arranged to rotate freely on the inner end of the bolt or stud 20. This stud carries an eccentric cam 21, .which cam is prevented from turning by means of a key 22 (Fig. 7 he object of the cam 21 is to cause the forming members .43 to protrude from the face of the drum a. the upper part thereof, as shown in Figs. 3' and 7. Each of these forming members 23 is provided at one end. with a stop 2 1 and, near its central part, with projections 25 (Fig. 8) which are adapted to form bends in the central part of -the sides of the fabric members, as will be hereinafter more fully described. The mem bers 23ers maintained in contact with the eccentric cam 21 by means of a ring 26 concentric with the said cam. In order to hold the loops of the formed fabric members against the stops 2 1, I provide the drum with a plurality of detents 27, each of which is provided with a pinion 28. These pinions 9.8 are engaged by racks 29 set into the surface of the drum and actuated by a cam track 30 supported by bracket 31 and arranged in a groove 31 formed around the periphery of the drum near its inner end. Arranged between the forming members 23 on the face of the drum are stops 32 and wire guides 33. as best shown in Fig. 8 Adjacent to the detents 27, the drum 19 1S provided with a number of blocks 34: which are adapted to receivethe formed fabric members and, together with the detents 27, hold the same in proper position for their loops to receive wire to form a new fabric member. The drum 19 projects beyond these blocks 3 1- a suitable distance to receive the amount of fabric it is desired to form in one piece; The drum, as best shown in Fig. 1. has its periphery formed into a number of fiat faces, each of which is equal to a width of one of the fabric members. In the present machine, fourteen of these faces are shown formed on the drum. Thenumber, however may be varied without affecting the operation of the machine. The rear end of the drum 19 is provided with a ratchet having teeth corresponding in number with the number of faces on the periphery of the drum 19. The drum is fed forward by means of a pawl engaging with the teeth of the ratchet The pawl 36 ispivoted upon an arm 37 carried by a reciprocating bar 38 mountec in guides 39 carried on the casting 18. The bar 38 is operated by means of an eccentric which will be hereinafter described. Secured to the upper end of the casting 18 by means of a bolt 10 is a casting 11 adapted to carry the main operating parts of the machine. This casting 41 supports the frame 12 in which mounted the main shaft 13 of the machine. Mounted. on the end of the shaft 13 is a belt or drive wheel 4% to which power is supplied from any suitable source. Also mounted on the shaft 43 is an eccentric it connected by means of a strap 46 with the upper end of the bar 38 hereinbefore referred to.

Carried by the casting 11 is a pair of studs 50 upon which is slidably mounted a block 51. The block 51 is connected by means of a link 52-to one end of a lever 53'which is pivoted at 541 to a lug 55 carried by the casting 4.1, as best shown in 7 and 9. The opposite end of the lever 53 is provided with an anti-friction roll 56 adapted to cooperate with a cam 57 carried on the main shaftshaped face on a vertical bar 60. This bar 60 is situated in slot 61 in the block 51 and is held in sliding relation thereto by means of cross pieces 62. The lower end of the bar 60 is provided with laterally projecting portions 63 so that the bar as a whole forms a T-shaped member. The inner face ofthe bar is provided adjacent to its lower edge with a groove 64. as best shown in Fig. 10. The object of this groove is to en gage the wire of'which the fabric member is to be formed- Loosely mounted in the block 51 are a pair of shafts 85. These shafts are so mounted to have a limited amount of vertical movement. Rigidly secured to the shafts (55 are wings 66, as shown in detail in Fig. 12. These wings are adapted to fold the sides of the fabric member in parallel position. Secured to each of the wings 66 is blaue (57. the inner face of which is provided with a. groove 68 for on as best shown in'Figs. 7 and 10.

gaging with the wire of which the fabric member is to be formed. Each of the blades 67 also provided with a central opening I -39. as best shown'in Fig. 10. The upper ends of the shafts are provided with pinions 70 which engage with rack bars "71 for operating the blades. These rack bars are mounted in suitable guideways in the casting and are provided with inwardly projecting blocks '72 adapted to be engaged by cams 73 carried on the shaft lS. In order to return each of the rack bars 71 to their normal position after being engaged by ti cam 73, 1 provide a coil spring 74% whico is secured at one end to a pin 75 carried by each of the studs 50 and at the other to a pin 76 carried by each of the rack barsTl.

Arranged outside of the studs 50 are a second pair of'studs 80 also carried by the casting n. Each of these studs 80 has pir oted on it a plate 81 having journaled in its lower part rock shaft 82. On the inner end of this rock shaft 82 is a forming pin 83, as best shown in Figs. 10 and 11. The plate 81 secured to it adjacent to the reel: shaft 82. a blade at (Fig. 10) which is adapted to cooperate with a cutting projection 85 on. the rock shaft 82 in order to sever the wire. The cutting projection 85 not only cooperates with the blade 84 to sever the wire, but also forms a loop on the same. as best shown in Fig. 11. A stop pin 86 is carried in each of the plates 81 to assist in the formation of the loop.

In order to rotate the shafts 82, each of said shafts is provided at its forward end with a gear wheel 8?, as shown in Fig. 5. These gear wheels 87 cooperate with rack b. rs 88 mounted in guides 89 carried on the plates 81. The upper end of each of the rack bars 88 is pivoted to a link 90. the opposite end of which is pivoted to a lever 91. The lever 91 is in turn pivoted at 92 to a bracketlii carried by the frame 12 and provided with an anti-friction roll 94 adapted to be one god by a cam 95 on the main shaft norder to return thcl'ever 91 toits normal position after it is operated by .the cam 95. I secure to said lever one end of a spring 96. the other end of which is secured to the plate 81, as shown in Figs. 3 and This spring not only serves to return the lever 91 to its normal position, but also normally holds theplate 81 against a stop )7 carried bya sleeve 98, rigidly secured to the stud 80. Secured to the upper edges of the plate 81 are the ends of a U- shaped member 99 carrying wire guides 100, A wire guide 101 similar to the guides is also carried onthe plate 81 at the side opposite to that into which the wire is fed. The member 9%) is pivoted at point 102, as shown in Fig. 5, so that the said member-will not interfere with a slight rocking motion of the plate 81 which is caused by the formation of the loops on the end of the wire, as will be hereinafter described. In order to feed the wire 103 into the machine, the wire is engaged by means of a feed dog of any usual construction. This feed dog 10% slides upon a rod 105, carried by a bracket 106 secured to the frame 12. The feed dog is connected by means of a link 107 with an arm 108 having a slot 109 engaging with a pin 110 on a bevel gear wheel 111, carried on the frame 12, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 9. The arm 103 is pivoted to the frame 12 at 11 1. This bevel gear wheel 111 is engaged by a second bevel gear wheel 112 mounted on the end of the shaft as. It will thus be evident that each time the shaft 13 is rotated, the feeding mechanism 104. will be reciprocated along the rod 105. Arranged on the rod 105, adjacent to the plate 81, is a detent 113 of any usual form for preventing the wire 103 from being moved backward during the return movement of the feeding mechanism 104.

The operation of the machine will now be briefly described. The wire 103 is fed into the machine by the forward movement of the feeding device 10 1. The wire 103 first passes between the blade 84st the left hand side of the machine and its cooperating cutting projection 85. The wire then passes through the first wire guide 100 and through the loops of the fabric sections which have been previously formed. After passing through the fabric sections, the wire then passes through the second guide 100 to the guide 101, and to the second cutting members 84 and 85. The stroke of the feeding device is so arranged that slightly more wire will be fed into the machine than is necessary to form one of the fabric members. The surplus wire is cut off by the second cutting members 34. and 85. as shown in Fig. 10. The purpose of this is to insure uniform length of the wire, even if there should be a slight variation of the feed. While the wire is fed through the loops of the preceding fabric members the said loops are held in alinement against the forming members 24 by means of the detents 27, as best shown in Fig. 8. After the wire has been fed into position, as shown in Fig. 10, the cams 95 will come into contact with the anti-friction rolls 94 on the levers 91 and actuate the said levers to raise the rack bars 88, and thus rotate the rock shafts 82 so as to cause the members 85 to cotiperate with the blades 8 1 in cutting the wire at both ends and to also cause said members to carry the ends of the wire around the loops forming pins 83, so as to form loops 115 on the ends of the wire 103 as best shown in Fig; 11. It will be evident that the formation of these loops on the ends of the wire will somewhat shorten the wire. This is compensated for by the movement of the plates 81 toward each other on their pivots. After the formation of the loops 115 on the ends of the wire 103, the cam 57 comes in contact with the antifriction roll 56 on the end of the lever 53, thus causing the block 51 to be moved rearwardly along the studs 50. This movement of the block 51 along the studs 50 allows the member 60 to move downwardly and as this member supports the wings 66, the said wings also move downwardly, so that said parts assume a position such that the grooves 61 and 68 in. the members 63 and 67 will engage with the wire 103. The arms 63 of the member 60 .hold the central part of the cross piece of the fabric member against the stop pin 32 while the blades 67 fold the sides of the fabric member into position. The object of raising the member 60 and wings 66 on their rearward movement is to remove them out of the path of the various projecting portions of the drum 19. After the loops 115 have been formed upon the ends of the wires, the cams 73 come into contact with the blocks 7 2 on the rack shaft bars 71. thus actuating the pinions to rotate the shafts .65 and thus fold the wings 66, as best shown in Fig. 12. This folding of the wings 66 causes the blades 67 to engage with the wire 103 and bend the same around theforming members 24:, so as to form parallel side pieces 116 of the fabric members. Half loops 117 are thus formed at two corners of the fabric member. At the same time, the sides 116 of the fabric member are folded into parallel position. the recesses 69 in the blades 67 cooperate with the projections 25 on forming members 24 to form bends 118 in i the side members 116, and thus increase their resiliency. After the cams 73 release the rack bars 7 2, they are returned to their normal position by means of the springs 74;

and the parts of the machine thus assume their normal position. The drum 19 is now 'fed forward by the action of the feed pawl 36 and the machine is ready to begin the operation of forming a new fabric member.

The formed fabric members, after leaving the drum 19, are engaged bythe guide 17 and are carried downwardly and then up wardly, at the opposite side of the drum where they are again delivered to the drum. Each fabric member in being carried around the drum by the guide 17 is. at the same time, carried forward a distance equal to its own length, so that when it is a second time presented to the drum it has been moved toward the outer end of the drum sufficiently to bring its loops 115 into position to receive the wire 103 which is to form a new fabric member. Thus the continued operation of the machine results in the forma of a tubular link mesh fabric composed of connected spiral convolutions of serially arranged fabric units. The series conncctions of adjacent units are provided by the hook-portions of units of the adjacent pre ceding convolution, said hook portions also serving to connect adjacent convolutions iaterally, 7

It will be manifest that my inventioi not confined to the specific process herein described, nor is it limited for use in connection with the specific machine 5-: t forth above, both the process and the means for carrying it out being capable of being modified considerably to suit individual requirements, without sacrifice of ediciency. The scope of the invention, therefore, is in no sense limited by the specific (illbtlliS of opera-- tion described herein, but artist be determined'by referring to the appended clainv I claim 1. The improved method of making tubular wire fabrics composed of spiral convolutions of connected, identical fabric units which interioch with the units of adjacent 'convoiutions, which consists in severing equal lengths of'wirc from a continuous wire supply, forming these lengths of wire into fabric units and interlocking said fabric units with the similar units of a previously completed portion ()iiifittlCl tubuiar fabric.

2. The improved method ofmahinp; rectangular mesh bed spring fabric composed of parallel rows of similarly formed fabric units, which consists in severing; equal lengths of wire from a continuous wire supply, forming these lengths of wire into fabric units and attaching said fabric units to each other to formspiral convolutions of a tubular mesh fabric, and laterally interlocking the rows of fabric units directly with each other to form'rectangular mesh bed spring fabric. V

3. The improvedmethod ofconstructing rectangular-mesh tubular wire fabric made of wire units having limbs substantially parallel to the axis of the fabric, which consists in connecting one by one to the end of a previously completed fabric portion a circumferential series of wire fabric units having limbs arranged substantially parallel with the axis of the fabric and with the outer ends of said limbs disconnected, and thereby linking together the free ends of previously connected units whereby the inchoate rectangular meshes of said fabric are completed, one by one, r 7

4. The improved method of making wire fabric formed of wire units, the limbs of which form boundaries of the meshes of the fabric, which consists in connecting to the end of a previously completed fabric portion a row of fabric units having limbs, the ends of which are free and project outwardly from their connections with the prefluently forming the unit to provid cc of wire, the terminal portions of which :orm a pair of limbs separated to constitute sit es of inchoate fabric mesh, the ends of said limbs being free and projecting outwardly from the end of the previously compl ted fabric portion and thereby complet- 3 previously formed inchoate meshes by innectino the outer free ends of the limbs of the units in the row previously connected to said fabric'port ion,

6 The improvement in the process of constructing, mesh fabric from wire units, which consists in engaging the of a previously completed portion of said mesh fabric, and subsequently forming the unit to provide means for connecting a subsequent unit thereto.

'Y. The improvement in the process of constructing mesh fabric of wire units, which consists iu-eng a i'iortiou of a unit with ed of ireviousiy completed portion of said mesh fabric, and subsequently forming another portion of the unit to provide means for connecting, subsequent unit thereto. V

8. The improvement in the process'of constructing wire mesh fabric composed of connected transverse rows of connected longitudinally disposed fabric units, which consists in enejasinp; that portion of the wire member which is to become one edge of the unit with the end of a previously completed portion of said mesh fabric, and

means for connectin a subsequent unit thereto,

9, The improvement in the process of constructing wire mesh fabric composed of i sverse rows of connected lon- 1" inally disposed fabric units, which con c s in on ing that portion of the wire aber i h is to become one edge of the unit with the end of previously completed portion said me I quently forming; an eye in said wire member whereby a subsequent unit may be connected thereto.

10. The improvement in the process of constructing wire mesh fabric composed of interconnected fabric unit's, which. consists in en aginrg a wire member with the edge of a previously completed portion of said meshfabric, and subsequently bending said unit with the edge uric, and subse,

.subscmember, said bending operation including the formation of an eye to provide connection means for a subsequent unit.

11. The improvement in the process of constructing wire mesh fabric composed of connected transverse rows of connected longitudinally disposed fabric units which consists in threading a wire length into an eye at the edge of a previously completed por tion of said mesh fabric, and subsequently bending said member to provide :1 hooked arm extending outwardly from the edge of the fabric.

12. The improvement in the process of constructing wire mesh fabric, which consists in engaging the central portion of a length of wire with a previously completed portion of said mesh fabric, and subsequently bending said wire length to form a pair of arms extending outwardly from the edge of the fabric.

18. The improvement in the process of constructing wire mesh fabric composed of transverse rows of fabric units, which consists in transversely moving a wire member into engagement with the edge of a pre viously completed portion of said mesh fabric, and subsequently forming said wire member into the shape of a unit.

14:. The improvement in the process of constructing wire mesh fabric, which consists in threading the end of a length of wire through the eye of a unit on the edge of a previously completed portion of said mesh fabric, and subsequently forming an eye on said end.

HARVEY E. BROWN.

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